


Drifting Souls

by knowlee_raven



Series: Claudleth A-Z [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU, F!Byleth, F/F, F/M, Friendship, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Romance, Slow Burn, everyone works together...eventually, hence why the semi-original story, more relationship pairings will pop up as the story gets more developed and further along, post-time skip looks for everyone, semi-original story, some violence, spoilers for all routes in three houses, spoilers for both games essentially, tw on chap 4 for brief heavy implied violence and panic attacks, uses story elements from Three Houses and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, uses the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Blade System as a plot point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2020-11-08 22:30:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20843075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowlee_raven/pseuds/knowlee_raven
Summary: While Claude was a curious man by nature, he never expected to stumble upon an ancient Blade once used by the King of Liberation.To add to his list of unexpectations, he didn't plan on becoming an enemy of the Church after accidentally awakening said Blade. Nor did he expect to be joining forces with a noble prince and a shrewd princess on a journey to avenge an almost extinct race by uncovering secrets that have been kept from them.But, to be honest, with his luck, this sounded about normal.(AU that uses Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Blade system as a plot point.)





	1. The Woman on the Throne

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Drifting Souls

Chapter 1: The Woman on the Throne

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

The shade under this tree was perfect.

Ahh… there was really no better place for a midday nap than under the shade of this perfect tree. The birds were twittering away, giving him a sense of peace. He sighed. For Claude von Riegan, this was his idea of heaven. He yawned as he stretched his arms out to put behind his head to use as a makeshift pillow. His green eyes started to close as he felt the softness of the grass underneath his back. This was definitely a good way to spend the rest of the day.

So relaxed was he, that he found himself about to slip away into sleep… until his wyvern decided to jar him awake by suddenly putting it's scaly face into his line of view. Gasping at the sudden shock he experienced, he tried to calm down his heart. Well, if he was tired before, he definitely wasn't now…

“What the heck was that for, huh?” Glaring at the brown scaled creature, he leaned up to push the wyvern's snout out of his face. For a second, he almost could've swore that the creature had a smug look on his face. However, due to him having been around wyverns nearly all his life, he was sure he wasn't just seeing things. Oh, well, two could play that game. He smirked and his voice took on a teasing tone. “No fish for you tonight.”

The wyvern appeared to glare at him and responded by pushing him back onto the ground. Okay, _now_ he was certain that his wyvern was laughing at him. He would have to get him back after that.

Sighing, he continued to lay on the ground, hoping that this day would last a bit longer. It wasn't often that he got to have a vacation from his duties especially since he knew that it could be any day now that his grandfather's health could start declining. Sure, his grandfather didn't have to worry about anyone potentially poisoning him like he had to worry about when he was a kid, but with his age, it was something to think about.

Sighing again, he decided to put that out of his mind for now. It wasn't going to be much of a vacation if he spent most of it worrying. Pulling himself back off the ground into a sitting position, Claude looked up towards the mountains to see the church that sat atop the Oghma Mountains.

Garreg Mach Monastery. He smiled wryly as he was reminded of his academy days. It had been at least five years ago when he graduated as the Golden Deer House Leader. He still kept in contact with most of his house classmates that had graduated with him and even communicated with some that weren't in his house at all.

Although he wasn't someone who liked to bathe themselves in nostalgia, he did kind of miss those days. Sure, when he attended, he was at a stage when he didn't fully trust anyone (still possessed that somewhat, but when you're in his position you have to be that way), but regardless of that, he did enjoy his classmates company and had made many good memories with them. It almost made him want to go back. He frowned. He needed to focus less on the past and more on the future. Especially when that future he wanted to reach called for some grand ideas.

He glanced over at his companion to see that it was snoozing away on the grass next to him. Sometimes he felt a little jealous of the guy, knowing that he didn't have to think on such things. But even so, that was only because he was in his possession. If he was just a regular wyvern, there would be more pressing concerns for him, such as food, shelter, etc. Like him, he was born privileged.

Claude turned back to the monastery. But even with privilege as an obstacle, there were still people who fought to reach that level without anyone helping them. Maybe if he were to achieve his dreams, it'd make that a much easier battle for them. To do that it would take a lot of hard work. Luckily for them, he knew what he was getting in to. He would accomplish his goal no matter what.

However, that dream could wait for tomorrow. Another yawn escaped from his mouth. A nap was in order first. Claude moved to lie back down on the ground and join his wyvern in slumber, when distant voices caught his attention. He quickly became more alert.

He moved over as quietly and fast as he could over to his wyvern and grabbed the quiver filled with arrows and bow he had left lying on the ground next to him. As he was attaching the quiver to his waist, he looked around to try and find the source of the noise. It didn't take him long to spot a small group of what looked like bandits walking towards a hole that appeared to have been made recently in the side of the mountains.

He furrowed his eyebrows together as he nocked an arrow. How had he not noticed that before?

Claude glanced over to his wyvern to see that the bandits had caught their attention too. He gave it orders to stay there until he called and began to sneak his way over, utilizing the trees as camouflage. As he neared the edge of the forest, he was finally able to make out what they were saying.

“So, is this it then?” The tallest bandit waved his hand at the giant hole.

“Yep, inside there is supposed to be the Holy Tomb. Took us about a whole month to dig through this mountain to reach it and nows a good time as any to get inside and see what riches await us.” The one standing next to him, the boss of this operation he presumed, responded.

The Holy Tomb? As in the Holy Tomb that was connected to the monastery? His eyes flicked up briefly at the aforementioned building and back down again. Well, considering where this was located, he wasn't surprised. He knew if the men were lucky, they'd get in and get out with what they were trying to find. Although he was sure there was enough security down in there that they'd probably get caught. But damn, he sure was curious and was sorely tempted to follow after them. It probably was too big of a risk though to even try.

The words that came out of the third bandit though caused him to change course completely. “Isn't one of those rumored treasures one of those Blades? Like the most powerful one? The one used by the King of Liberation?”

If anyone was there to see the combined look of shock and glee that came over Claude's face, they'd be laughing for days. Was he talking about the Sword of the Creator? The blade that could cut through mountains? The smile that formed on his face was so wide he was sure he looked like he fell off the deep end. Well, well, well, looks like he was going to follow these guys after all.

That Blade, if he found it, could greatly help him achieve his goal of uniting Fodlan and breaking down the barriers between it and other countries. A nagging thought at the back of his mind though reminded him of the limitations of his crest. He had the Riegan crest and, if he was correct in his research, the Blade of the Sword of the Creator could only be wielded by one who had the crest of Flames. And the only one known to history was famed King of Liberation. He had no descendants that any one knew of, so the chance that he was distantly related to him, was null.

Regardless, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he needed to get his hands on that Blade. And, he thought while looking down at the bandits who were now entering the cave, he needed to get it before they did.

* * *

Claude almost wished he had gone back and grabbed one of his torches to bring with him before he made his decision. His hands groped along the rocky walls of the cave as he slowly inched his way forward. He could barely make out the dim light coming from the torch the bandits were carrying. Although he knew he could see better if he had one of his own, he also knew that he would be putting himself at risk of being discovered if he had went back to get one. Plus he probably would've lost them completely and wouldn't be able to navigate the path like he was now.

He frowned. He really hoped that once he made it to the main part of the tomb, there would be more light readily available.

It seemed as if he would get his wish because just as he was about to round a corner, he had to stop himself from going any further or else he would've been seen. He scrambled to hide and peeked around to see a dim, almost pale green light illuminating a large room. He couldn't make out much else, but he knew that based on the bandits reactions as well as his own rudimentary knowledge of what the tomb looked like on the inside, that they had reached their destination.

He waited a few moments after the bandits had dispersed to make sure that they were fully gone before making his way out of the tunnel. What he saw when he reached the room was too beautiful for words.

Light filtered down into the room through glass windows in the ceiling. Where the light itself was coming from he wasn't sure as he was certain there was nothing but layers of rock above them. Maybe there was something underneath the monastery allowing for this?

Claude turned his attention away from the ceiling to look at the layout of the tomb itself. Tall pillars held up the ceiling above them and rows and rows of lit candles littered the ground near what looked like to be dozens of caskets lined up along a pathway that lead to a flight of stairs on his far right.

Seeing the caskets here reminded him of where exactly he was at. And while he wasn't a holy man, he did respect the dead and tried his best to not disturb them as he started to walk forward. He nocked an arrow into his bow to be ready just in case he ran into the bandits or any soldiers that he was sure to be down here.

Once he stood in the pathway, he took a quick glance to make sure he hadn't been seen by anyone. He let out a quiet breath as he was relieved to not see a single person in view and decided to take another look around now that he was at a different angle. He turned his attention to his left to see the light coalescing there on what looked to be a throne. That looked interesting.

Slowly he began to make his way over to it, stepping up a short flight of stairs to get to it. When he reached the top he was surprised to discover that there was a young woman sitting down on it, her torso draped over one of the chair's shoulders with a look of peace on her face. Was she...sleeping? And better yet, what was she doing down here?

He knew she didn't come here with the bandits and it didn't look like she was related to the church in any way cause he could tell from his angle that she didn't bear it's symbol anywhere on her. That left only one other explanation.

She was already down here.

But why?

He took another quick look around and behind him to make sure he wasn't been watched or followed then turned back to the woman. Maybe he should just wake her and ask? Either way, it didn't sit right with him to just leave her there. Especially with him knowing that those bandits were probably just around the corner.

With his decision made, he walked toward her, not knowing while doing so, he had accidentally triggered warning bells.

* * *

Before her sat a young girl upon a stone throne with the emblem of a small flame carved into it. She was unsure of who she was and as she was about to get closer to her to see if she could wake her up, the young girl stretched out her arms suddenly and yawned. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the girl open her eyes and look dead at her. “Oh my, just who might you be?”

She furrowed her brows together as the girl continued. “I wonder how you got in here...” The girl's expression shifted into a glare. “It is most rude to interrupt a moment of repose. Very rude indeed.”

While she could agree with her that it was rude to interrupt someone's sleep, she couldn't help but feel that the girl was doing the same to her. She was confused by that emotion. Why did she feel that way?

So lost in her thoughts was she, that she barely noticed the girl motioning for her to come near. “Now come to me. I wish to have a look at you.” She took in a deep breath and took a few steps closer into the light that seemed to be glowing above the girl. Although she couldn't see what she herself looked like, she knew that deep down she was much older than the girl. How she knew that innately was still confusing.

“Hmm...I have not seen the likes of you before. Who are you, anyway?”

She was a little thrown off by the question. She initially felt the need to tease the girl by saying she was a ghost or demon, but ultimately decided against it. Similar to those other feelings she had before, she felt as if this wasn't a girl she needed to cross. “I'm a mortal.”

The girl glared at her. Did she not believe her answer? “I see. Then you must have a name of sorts. Go on.”

She was stunned. What was her name? Her eyebrows came together as she tried to recall what that bit of information was. How could she forget something as simple as that? _'Byleth…'_

Was… was that her name? It sounded right. “Byleth.”

“Huh.” The girl moved from slouching on the arm of the chair to sitting up straight. “I shall not ever grow accustomed to the sound of human names. You must possess a day of birth as well. Beneath which moon and on what day were you born to this world?”

More questions that she didn't really have answers to. She frowned. Why couldn't she remember this?

Like before another answer came to her. _'Day 20 of the Horsebow Moon.'_ She repeated this to her. The girl looked shocked, pleased even. “Well, wonders never cease! It seems we share our day of birth! How strange!”

Strange it was indeed. Did that mean they were connected? But how? Before she could think to question the girl about it she heard her yawn suddenly. “Hmm… It all feels so… familiar.” The girl slouched back over the arm of the throne. “I think it may be time for yet another nap… It is almost… time to… begin...” Her eyes closed and the girl began to snore slightly as she feel asleep.

Begin? Begin what?

She looked over at the girl for a few more moments before she felt jolted by a different voice. _'Excuse me, my lady? Are you...alright?'_

She looked up towards the light. Who was that? Before she could ponder it further, she felt her body begin to drift away from this existence she was currently in. Where was she going? Why did she feel like she was waking up? But wasn't she awake already…?

* * *

Her eyes opened and before her stood a brown-haired, green-eyed man with tan skin. Who was he? Was it his voice she heard earlier? Did he wake her up?

“Hey, are you alright?”

Yes, it was his voice. They sounded too alike for it to be just a coincidence. The concerned look on his face reminded her that she needed to answer him. While she didn't feel that he was someone that needed to be appeased like the girl was, she didn't want him to worry about her. “...I'm fine.”

He looked at her strangely. Perhaps he wasn't convinced that she was alright? She didn't get a chance to think further on it, for his attention was suddenly pulled away to something in front of them.

"Well, well, well… look at this. We got company, boss!"

She jumped slightly and turned her head to follow his gaze. There, before them stood three strange men. Men who wielded swords and were looking at the two of them with dangerous gazes. She glared. They looked as if they were ready for a fight.

The leader of the trio looked at the both of them. “Hmm… so who might you guys be? You didn't come in with us and you don't look like any soldiers I've seen. Plus there's no churchy getup on either one of you.” Byleth felt a little uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze and continued to glare back at him to hide her discomfort. “That leaves only one other explanation: you're here after the same treasure we are. And we certainly can't let that slide.”

Treasure? What were they talking about? Byleth racked her brain for any information regarding it, but nothing came to mind. She huffed in irritation. Why couldn't she remember anything?!

She looked over at the man next to her to see that he had his bow up and an arrow nocked ready to fire. The men didn't seem to care that he, too, was armed and began to slowly make their way towards them. She glanced around to see if there was another weapon lying nearby, but was disappointed to find that there wasn't. Regardless, she was determined to help him in some way. She began to pull herself off the throne only to find herself feeling a little winded by the small action. How long was she asleep for to make her feel this weak? She was going to definitely needed answers about what was going on with her after this was all over.

"Stay there." Byleth halted in her motions at the sound of the man's voice. She looked over at him and saw him wink at her before continuing. "I'll take care of these guys."

His gaze quickly changed from carefree to deadly in a matter of seconds. He stood in front of her to act as her shield. "Don't know what 'treasure' you guys keep talking about, but I sure as hell know that you guys seem a little far away from home.” He drew the arrow back further in a threatening motion. “You need to leave before I give you a reason to."

Instead of having the desired effect of getting them to back off, it did the opposite. The leader laughed. "_Please!_ You and that measly little bow ain't gonna do nothing to us. Now, play nice and let us kill you and we promise we'll make it quick."

"We don't have any information about what it is that you want. Just leave us alone and maybe I'll spare your lives." Ah, the cocky look was back on his face. Although she didn't know the man personally, she had a feeling she could trust him. Could he take on those guys by himself however? Based on his stance it seemed possible, but with him only wielding a bow, she couldn't be certain.

“Hah, such big words from a guy who's only wielding a bow. You might get a few shots in, but that won't be enough to stop us!” The man nearest to them made his move and charged towards the man next to her. 

In response, he shot off an arrow to which the bandit easily dodged. He moved to grab another out of his quiver but the man was too close for him to shoot it off in time. Time seemed to slow down for a moment when she saw him barely dodge the downward sword swipe the bandit sent right where he had been standing just a few seconds before. Before the bandit could make another move though, the man took the arrow he had grabbed from his quiver and drove it into his stomach and used the own bandit's momentum against him to thrown him down onto the ground. And, with a flourish that she wouldn't have seen if she wasn't paying attention, he quickly grabbed another arrow and stabbed it into the bandit's throat before he could retaliate.

Byleth was impressed. He certainly knew his way in a battle. Before she could linger on her amazement for much longer, she saw the second bandit making his way towards him. She cried out to warn him. “Look out!”

Following her advice, he jerked his head up to see the second bandit running towards him with an axe high in the air ready to swing down at him. She watched as right before he got close to him, he grabbed another arrow from his quiver and rolled backwards just as the axe connected with the ground. Then, right as the bandit lifted his axe to go after him again, the man, while still kneeling down, shot him in the forehead, killing him instantly.

If she thought she was impressed before, she certainly was now.

The man lifted himself off the ground, bow still at the ready, and pointed it at the leader while knocking another arrow. “Well, that's two down. Not bad for a guy only wielding a bow, if I do say so myself.” Although she couldn't see him at the angle he was standing, she was sure he was smirking.

Byleth saw irritation come over the leader bandit's face. He wasn't pleased to see that his men had been cut down. Based on his looks, although she knew the man with the bow had certainly proved himself worthy of lone combat, she vaguely wondered how long it would last.

The leader took a few steps forward and began to study the situation. She could tell that he was a bit different from the other two based on how he was judging the situation. However, that could simply be because of what he saw happen to his men. He couldn't just jump in expecting to win. He had to think about it first.

When it seemed like he was still thinking on it, he surprised them both by making his move. In a split second, Byleth saw a dagger flying straight for her head. Reacting quickly, she threw herself off the throne and landed on her knees while the dagger hit the stone pillar where her head was just a few seconds before. She tried to get up and move away before he could do that maneuver again, but she was still too weak. She only had enough time to look up to see another dagger headed her way. She saw in the corner of her eye, the man with the bow running towards her, stretching his bow out to try and break the dagger's momentum by hitting it away from her.

While he did succeed in saving her from the dagger, her eyes widened as she saw the bandit leader come up behind him and with one smooth motion, run him through with his blade.

She gasped. “No!” She heard the clack of his bow hitting the ground. The bandit yanked his sword back out of him and they both watched as he fell down onto the floor. Dread filled her as she saw that he wasn't moving. Although she didn't know him but for a few moments, she knew that just based on the fact that he helped protect her regardless of her being a stranger, he didn't deserve to die.

She fixed a glare on the bandit who was now standing before her. Her body was getting warm from the anger that was coursing through her. “Not so tough now, huh?” The bandit turned his attention to her. “Well, now, are you going to tell me what I need to know? Or are you gonna join your friend here?”

He pointed his sword at her, the man's bright blood making it glow a sickly red. She clenched her fist so tight that it felt like the heat was building in her palm. “Find the damn treasure on your own! I don't know anything!”

He smirked at her, raising his sword to strike her down. “Your choice!”

As she was bracing herself for the blade to enter her body, a familiar voice resounded in her head. _'Don't just sit there! Throw the fire in your hand!'_ What? What fire? _'Just do it! Throw your hand out!'_

Although still confused, she did as the voice said and immediately upon doing so, her eyes widened when she saw a ball of fire come out of her palm and hit the bandit square on his chest. His cry of pain was horrible to hear, but the attack did make him move away from her and give her a moment to react to what she just did.

Byleth looked down at her hand. What the hell was that? How did she-? Before she had a moment to ponder it further, the disembodied voice spoke again. _'Go to him! Quickly!'_

Confusion hit her again, until she remember the man lying on the ground next to her. Gathering her strength, she crawled her way over to him. She grimaced at the blood she could see coming from his wound. Was he still alive? _'Turn him over!'_

Byleth did as the voice asked. She struggled at first to lift him, but once she got him past a certain point, she was able to gently lay him down onto his back. Her eyes widened as she saw his chest slightly move. He was breathing! He was still alive!

She heard the bandit she hit earlier with the fireball make another painful noise before crying out. “I'm gonna kill you!” Byleth felt a slight twinge of fear at his words. How was she going to defend herself from him? Could she summon another fireball? _'Quick! Put your hand on his wound!'_

“What? Why?”

_'Just do it!'_

Fine! Byleth brought up her hand to cover the cut in his chest. _'Now put his hand on your chest where your heart is! Quickly! Before the bandit gets up!'_

She could see the bandit in question start to get up off the ground where he had fallen to try and put out the flames. As much as she wanted to argue against the insanity of listening to a strange voice she was hearing in her head, it was her only option at this point. She grabbed his right hand and placed it where the voice had directed her to. _'Now, your gonna feel a little strange from this, but it will be fine. Trust me.'_

She wasn't so sure if she should. Suddenly she felt the warm feeling return again, but this time it centered not only in her hand, but in her heart. Was she- was she healing him? She heard him take in a sudden gasp of air and fling his eyes open wide, looking up at her in shock. _'Now, tell him to awaken the power within him! Hurry! Before the bandit kills you!'_

Byleth could see the bandit begin sprinting over to them, sword raised high in the air ready to cut them down. She hurriedly repeated the words to him. He looked at her confused for a moment until he narrowed his eyes in determination. Suddenly, a bright blue light began to shine between them. The light traveled down to the hand he had lying at his side on the ground and came out to form a sword that looked to be made of bone.

Suddenly the weakness she felt before disappeared. She felt more powerful than ever. Did that sword have something to do with it?

* * *

Claude's eyes widened at the sight of the sword in his grasp. It can't be… That was-!

Before he could think on it further, he saw the bandit, the one that ran him through, running towards them like a mad man. He strengthened his grip on the sword and, somehow with some strange new found strength he gained (even though he had just been run through with a blade earlier), leaned up to use the sword to block the attack. When it connected, he felt a strange rush of power course through him and he was able to channel it into his arm to knock the bandit back a few feet.

The woman stood by his side and helped him to his feet. His eyes caught sight of the puddle of blood that he was standing in. Was that his? Then how was he standing? _Hell, how was he even alive?!_

The sound of the bandit yelling out a war cry dragged his attention away from the puddle and he took on a defensive stance when he saw the man trying to attack them again. He'd have to think on what happened later. Later being when they weren't in a life or death situation.

The two swords clashed together and like before, Claude used the strength flowing through him to push him back. This did nothing to deter the bandit though as he kept throwing himself at him to try and find an opening. “So, you _did_ know where the treasure was! Guess I'm just gonna have to make sure I kill you this time and claim that Blade for my own!”

Claude wanted to think more on his comment, but he had to focus more on blocking the attacks the bandit was sending his way. Eventually he found a rhythm and began to turn the tide against him. Instead of the bandit pushing him back, he was pushing him.

As the battle continued, the bandit began to realize that he wasn't going to win this one. He tried to find a way out, but with the way the man was attacking him and with the woman sharing her power as a Blade was meant to do, he couldn't find one. Still he had to try.

The two swords kept pushing against each other as their attacks became fiercer. After another attack connected, Claude finally saw an opening and took the advantage. The bandit had faltered a bit in his stance after Claude's last attack hit him hard. As the bandit quickly tried to take back his lost ground, Claude struck, bringing the blade down across his chest.

The bandit fell to his knees, coughing up blood as he landed. The cut was deep and it would only be a matter of time that he would die like his companions. He weakly glared up at them before falling to the ground, growing still.

Claude let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He brought a hand to snake through his hair as he tried to make sense of what had transpired. He had so many questions, he wasn't sure where to start. Well, actually scratch that, he did. He turned to face the woman and finally took a good look at her.

She had forest green hair and sea blue eyes. Her attire was a strange one as it looked to be a mix of both casual and formal attire. Plus, he noticed, there was nothing on her to suggest that she was a Blade. No glowing marks or anything. If he recalled from his research, that was the tell tale signs of someone being a Blade and although the bandit had called her that, he was still unsure of the claim. And yet…

He looked down at the sword in his hand. This… this was the Sword of the Creator. The legendary Blade that he had been searching for was now, literally, in his grasp. That then led to his next question: how in the hell was he able to wield it and use it's power? How could have awakened the Blade? His crest and the one connected to this Blade didn't match up.

Claude looked back up at the woman to see her bowing down to him. “Thank you for saving me. I only wish I could have helped out a bit more.”

He forced a smile onto his face. His questions could wait for a few seconds more. “It's no problem. You didn't look like you were exactly battle ready at the moment they decided to make their move. I couldn't let them hurt you especially when you had no way to defend yourself.”

She nodded at him. “Still, either way, I feel thanks are in order.”

He nodded. Although he didn't want to pressure her too much on questions (even though his inquisitive nature was literally begging him to), he did have one he wanted to ask her. One that he felt that he needed an answer to as soon as possible. “So… you're the Blade to the Sword of the Creator?”

He was confused as he watched the same look come over her face. Did he word his question funny? He was about to clarify when he found himself dumbfounded by her response. “A Blade? What's that?”

Claude's jaw dropped at her answer. How did she not even know what that was? Wasn't she a Blade herself? Before he speak what was on his mind, the sounds of thundering feet caught his attention. The pair turned their attention to the noises coming from behind them and was shocked to see a small platoon of soldiers headed their way.

_'Shit!'_ Claude cursed. They needed to get out of here! He was about to grab the woman's hand and drag her back to the tunnel that the bandits had made, but they were spotted before he had the chance.

“HALT!”

Claude desperately wanted to run, but unfortunately when he had soldiers aiming at them with their bows, lances and swords, it made it quite difficult to do so without making it into a suicide mission. And even though he had the Sword of the Creator in his hand, he felt that it would be even futile to even try with that.

Soon they two found themselves surrounded by the soldiers and in the midst of all of them came walking an almost ethereal looking woman. The soldiers parted to allow her to walk through and see those who had entered the tomb illegally.

The two watched as she looked at the dead bandits lying in the area before turning her attention on them. She looked at Byleth would some degree of softness in her gaze, the likes of which slightly disturbed her. She couldn't put her finger on why however. When she turned her gaze to Claude though, it turned into a look of hatred. Claude tried not to return the look with a glare of his own as he could easily tell what that look meant. He had seen many of those directed towards him in his childhood.

When the woman spoke, they both could practically feel the venom coming out of her voice. It was enough to make them become frightened in her presence. “How _dare_ you desecrate the Holy Tomb! And how _dare_ you disturb the holy Blade! You will die for your insolence!”

Claude swallowed painfully as a cold chill passed through his body at the implication of her words. 

Well, this certainly wasn't how he expected his day to go...


	2. Chopping Block

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Byleth and Claude have questions and concerns. Too bad it seems like the time they had spent together was about to be cut short.

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Drifting Souls

Chapter 2: Chopping Block

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

Claude barely caught himself as he was practically thrown into an empty room located on the second floor of the main building of the monastery. While he had thought he would come back to this place one day, he never would've imagined it would be in this manner.

He turned to look back at the man who had escorted him here. The man's green hair and eyes brought back memories of his academy days. Ah, Seteth, the guy who was the bane of his late teenage years. While yes, he understood the man had a job to do in keeping things in order as part of being the academy administrator, he also found that the man had no funny bone in his entire body. Regardless of what he did back when he attended, the man would watch him like a hawk. 

Due to this, he always tended to catch wind of nearly all of the schemes he would think up and put an end to most of them before he had a chance to put them into action. Seteth never found out about all his ideas however. Claude had to force down a smirk before it could form. That certainly wouldn't look good for him in his current predicament.

“If that's how you treat an alumni of this school, I'd hate to know how you treat those attending.” He joked to try and liven up the situation. The scowl on Seteth's face didn't waver an inch. He inwardly sighed. The man definitely hadn't changed since he last saw him.

“As an alumni, you should know better than to go into places where you're not meant to be.” That he couldn't deny, but Claude knew he could rework that to fit his narrative.

“For all you know, I could've followed those bandits who made their way into the tomb to try and stop them from ransacking the place.”

The glare still didn't budge. “Perhaps… Yet you still awoke the sacred Blade, which in itself is blasphemous.”

That, Claude didn't have an adequate response to give. Or at least not one that would let Seteth give him some leeway. Still, he didn't want to let the statement go unanswered. “That wasn't my intention. I assumed she was just a woman who needed help. I didn't think she was a Blade.”

Seteth continued his long stare, not even flinching once. It was moments like these that made Claude question whether this guy was even human. “Regardless of your excuses, it will be up to the Archbishop to decide your fate.”

And with that said, the man turned on his heel, and walked out of the room, the guards locking it securely behind him.

Claude sighed and ran a hand through his hair, gripping it slightly in frustration. Why did this have to happen? Maybe he should've just ignored those bandits and continued to nap away. But no, he had to give in to his curiosity and get himself into this mess.

He groaned as he took a look about the room and its sparse contents. His mouth formed a frown as he realized that there was nothing here that he could use to get out. It looked like he was stuck here. He sighed again as he lowered himself to the ground to sit and wait until said Archbishop would arrive to see him.

Although he knew that he wished he wasn't in this situation, he also knew that he wouldn't have changed it. Especially since he knew that that woman was there. Blade or not, he couldn't let those men get their hands on her. She didn't deserve to be wielded by them.

That thought led to the main problem he had with this whole scenario. How could he even wield her? By all accounts, he wasn't even supposed to resonate with her. Logically, the only Blade he should've been able to wield was Failnaught, the Blade given to the House of Riegan by the Goddess. It would only resonate with those with the Riegan crest, which he possessed through his mother's blood and it would be through his mother that he would inherit the Crest Stone for that Blade. But that wouldn't be, he hoped, until years from now.

The other thing that bothered him, was how the woman didn't even look like a Blade. Typically they were supposed to having glowing lights on their bodies as well as their Crest Stone glowing red on their chests. Hers wasn't visible. Unless perhaps it was hidden underneath that golden broach she wore. And if that were the case, then that could explain why he couldn't see the glowing marks either. Her armor could be hiding those too. He wouldn't know for sure until he asked her, but even so that would be an iffy subject to ask. Regardless of her status as a Blade, she was a woman too. And that was simply something you didn't just ask them. Or anyone, really.

Plus there was comment she made towards him when he asked about her connection to the Sword of the Creator. She didn't even know what a Blade was. Let alone that she was one. How was that even possible?

He ran both of his hands through his hair as the thoughts continued to swarm in his head. He had so many questions he needed to ask her, but…

Claude's eyes glanced up at the door as he felt the dread he experienced earlier when they were caught in the Holy Tomb course through him again.

He had a feeling that he might not get that chance.

* * *

Byleth chanced a glance at the green-haired regal woman walking in front of her and the guards as they continued to walk through this strange building. The look on her face was expressionless as she tried to make sense of what was going on.

First, she was awoken by a man whom she had never met before inside of a place she had never seen before. Then, a strange voice in her head explained to her how to fight against some people who were threatening to do her and the man harm and made her utilize powers she had never seen before to help fight them and heal the man who saved her from his wounds. That led to the man summoning a powerful sword that she felt she had a strange connection to and using it to fend off the last of the bandits that had attacked them. He had even attempted to question her on that connection, to which she had no answer.

She turned her attention away from the woman and stared blankly ahead. And now, she and the man had been separated from each other and their weapons, his bow and quiver and the sword that she felt was somehow hers although he wielded it, confiscated. She tried to catch sight of where he was being taken, but the woman who was walking in front of her prevented her from going forward with that plan.

Byleth breathed out slowly. All of this confusion made her head spin and she felt as if she should be terrified of what was going on around her since she had no idea where she was nor did she have any knowledge of who these people were. But she wasn't. Instead she was calm, a bit frustrated at her lack of answers, but overall she was calm. It was like she was control of the situation, even though she knew for a fact, she clearly wasn't. Maybe it was due to this lack of knowledge that made her feel this way. Either way, it just added to the list of questions she was making up in her head.

A few moments later, the group stopped in front of a door. The woman in front directed a guard to open it for her and she walked inside. Another guard standing next to her motioned her to follow. Byleth hesitated for a moment before she decided to listen. It wasn't like she had another choice.

Once she was a few feet in the room, the door was shut behind her, leaving her alone with the regal woman. She glanced back at the door once before turning her gaze back to her. She didn't like being left alone in a closed room with someone who had practically forced her here against her will. At least the man who helped her before didn't force her to do anything. In fact, it was him he forced himself to help her, when he probably didn't want to in the first place.

Oh well, if she did try anything at least she had her ability to conjure fire in her arsenal. That would allow her to fend her off at least.

She heard the woman take in deep breath before turning to face her. She gave her a small smile. Byleth felt as if she was hoping that it would make her feel safe and assured, but it was, in fact, doing the exact opposite. “Do… do you remember me?”

A look of confusion briefly broke through Byleth's blank expression. Remember her? Why would she remember her? Where was she going with this? She decided not to respond. Instead she returned her face back to the blank stare she had just a few moments before. “...”

A frown formed on the woman's face. “I see...” Byleth watched as she clenched her hands together and turned her line of sight away from her to look down at the floor. She took in another deep breath before striding around Byleth towards the door, which she knocked on to the let the guards know to let her out. Before she completely left her alone, she spoke once more. This time with a statement than a question. “I'm sorry if that man was doing you any harm. I promise you that he won't bother you anymore.”

She exited the room and the door closed before Byleth could get a word out, the door latched shut behind her. She was locked in.

Now she was concerned. What was going to happen to the man? As far as she knew he had done nothing wrong and he definitely didn't hurt her. So why were they punishing him?

_'I am not sure why either, but I do know that you do not need to get separated from him for too long. He is our Wielder after all.'_

Byleth whirled around, searching for the voice. She knew she was alone in this room, so how could she hear someone in here? It took her a moment, but soon she recognized it as the one she heard back when the bandits were attacking them. Just who did this voice belong to? Why did she feel as if she already knew the answer to that question?

_'Well, that is certainly rude! How dare you treat me with such disrespect? Honestly!'_

Byleth still couldn't see who it was that was speaking until she turned back around to the door to see a young child, the same one she saw in her dream, floating there in front of the door. She nearly jumped out of her skin. How did she get in here?

The girl gave her a glare, and rolled her eyes at her obliviousness. _'No one else can see me, but you.'_ She sighed. _'Well, it is fine. Apparently, based on your reactions to previous events that have happened today, you have no clue as to what is going on, do you?'_

Although Byleth was still in shock at her being before her, she managed to shake her head in response. The girl giggled and clapped her hands together as she looked at her in glee. _'Well, then. I guess it's up to me to guide you from now on. Right? You can call me Sothis… but I'm also known as “The Beginning”.'_

Sothis? She had never heard that name before, but somehow it felt familiar. Like she knew it from somewhere before. But where? She growled in frustration. She was going to get a headache from all these questions swirling in her head. Before she could pursue the thought any further, she heard the girl speak again. _'Hmm… Sothis… Yes, that is it. My name is Sothis. And I am also called… The Beginning. But who once called me that?'_

Seems like she wasn't the only one having problems with her memories. That made her feel slightly better about her own situation. “Sothis?”

The girl nodded. _'I was not able to recall my name… until just now. And just like that, it came to me. How odd.'_

Odd, indeed. Now, if only her memory would work that way...

Byleth wasn't quite sure to make of this girl floating before her. Hell, she didn't know what to make of this entire mess. It was already bad enough that she didn't know anything about anything, but now she had the girl she only saw in her dreams before now, seeming to exist. 

And to top it all off, the woman that had led her here had implied that they knew each other before and seemed disappointed when she didn't respond positively. She clenched her hands together in frustration. Sure, she didn't show it before, but this was ridiculous! If this was someone's idea of a joke, it wasn't a funny one. When, or if, she thought grimly, she got out of here, she was going to demand some answers. She didn't know much, but she definitely knew that she didn't like to run into things blindly.

Her emotions seemed to carry over to the girl, cause her confused look changed into a glare. _'That look upon your face… Did you think me a child? A mere child who forgot her own name?!'_

Byleth quickly shook her head. “No! I'm... just confused… and maybe a bit frustrated.” She sighed as she unclenched her hands. “Like you, I can't… I can't remember anything. I want to know what's going on, but… I don't even know where to begin...”

The girl's face softened. _'I see.'_ She sighed as she began to try and figure out how she should word her next statement. _'Perhaps then, we should start over. I may not be able to answer all of your questions since, like you, I am unaware of certain things. But… in regards to our status as a Blade, I should be able to respond to those.'_

There was that word again. Both the man and the gir- Sothis called her this. Why? “Blade? What is that supposed to be?”

Byleth could tell that Sothis was trying to keep her irritation off her face. It seemed like that was her usual go to emotion. She heard her sigh before she began to speak. _'A Blade is a physical manifestation of our Crest Stone. They have a weapon given to them, the Sword of the Creator in your case, upon their birth when they resonate with a person who bears the same Crest on their stone. That person becomes their Wielder and is able to share their energy and power with them and the same goes for the Wielder to the Blade. The Blade also has elemental magic they can use to help protect their Wielder on their own or in tandem with their partner.'_

Sothis kicked her legs back and forth throughout this explanation. _'There is some more to it, but that is the gist of what a Blade is. We are a Blade and that man who you were separated from is our Wielder.'_

That helped put some pieces of the puzzle together, but Byleth was still confused. “What did you mean by the Blade being born? Was that being asleep and then waking up?” She wasn't born when she resonated with him, was she? She didn't know why, but it felt as if this piece was a part of a bigger puzzle. And it was one that she was determined to get to complete.

_'Hmm…'_ Sothis brought her hand up to her face in thought. _'No, well, yes, maybe.'_ She grumbled as she lowered her hand back down to her side. _'You are technically asleep, but not in the traditional sense. You are asleep in your Crest Stone until the time comes for you to awaken by resonating.'_

Byleth furrowed her eyebrows together. Asleep in your Crest Stone? But she was asleep on a throne? And she didn't resonate with him until she was prompted to by the voice (Sothis' voice?) telling her to. Apparently Sothis caught on to her thinking cause she spoke up with her own thoughts. _'Hmm… that is odd. You did not follow the same protocol as a Blade with their stone and yet you are a Blade by being able to summon a weapon and resonate? This is most confusing.'_

Byleth agreed. Her thoughts turned back to the man, or her Wielder she guess she should call him now. Maybe he had some answers regarding this? Or that woman, perhaps? She felt as if she needed to ask them, but with her locked in her room, she couldn't. She sighed. Surely they're had to be a way.

Then she wondered about her connection to this girl in front of her. Was it normal for Blades to have another person connected to them? She began to ask this question of Sothis, but she was interrupted before she could continue.

_'Oh my, your face! What happened to it?'_

Byleth looked back in Sothis' direction to see her pointing at her face, more specifically, at her lower right cheek. She placed her hand onto that part of her face only to flinch and pull it back at the pain that resonated from that spot. “Ow! What was that?”

'There is a bruise there. It just formed there a few seconds ago as you were lost in thought. How did that happen?' Sothis moved her hand to her own cheek only to flinch back in pain too. _'What is this?!'_

Byleth gasped as she saw a bruise form on her face in the same exact place where hers was. How was it they had a bruise form on their face in the same spot? And how did they even get them in the first place? They hadn't been fighting anyone, so why…? Her thoughts turned to her Wielder. Sothis had mentioned that a Wielder and their Blade shared their energy with one another. Could that apply to wounds as well? Did that mean her Wielder was in trouble?

The regal woman's words came to the fore front of her mind. Was she doing something to him? Was she hurting him?

She glared at the door behind Sothis. She needed to get to him. Now.

She marched to the door and grabbed the handle, trying to turn it. It wouldn't budge. Cursing under her breath, Byleth looked around the room to try and see if there was anything she could use to force the door open. She only stopped when she heard Sothis chuckle at her antics. _'Trying to get to our Wielder, I see.'_ She levitated over to be next to Byleth. _'I do not think the guards are just going to let you walk out of here. I would suggest perhaps burning down the door, but first we need to make sure no one's around. The last thing we need is people panicking and getting in the way.'_

“How would we do that?”

If the grin on Sothis' face widened anymore, she'd probably break it. 'Simple. I'll go look through the door to see what is on the other side. They cannot see me, so unlike you, I will not cause a panic.' Byleth could only give her a glare at the snide comment. _'Give me but a moment to see.'_

Byleth watched in surprise as Sothis phased through the door. She felt a little jealous at the action. How come she didn't get to have that power? She frowned for only a few moments more before she saw Sothis' head pop through the door. It scared her for a moment as she didn't expect it so soon.

_'Funny enough, I do not see any guards. And yet they locked the door on you. How odd.'_ The girl phased the rest of her body through the door. _'Perhaps they failed to predict your power or perhaps they trust you too much to even try.'_ Sothis smirked as she glanced back at Byleth. _'Shall we prove them wrong?'_

Byleth smiled back at Sothis. Although she grated her nerves a few times since they met and she still had no clue why only she could see her and what their full connection was, she felt as if they would grow to be very close to one another in time. She turned her attention back to what she needed to do.

Placing the palm of her hand onto the wooden door, Byleth felt the warmth building up at that point. She could see small tendrils of smoke begin to sneak out from under her fingers at the growing heat. Pretty soon, the door would erupt in flames and turn into ashes.

* * *

Claude rubbed at the spot where the Archbishop had punched his face just a few moments before. With the strength she used to hit him, it was surely going to bruise. It was probably even forming on his face as he stood there looking at her in disbelief. The woman didn't pull her punches that's for sure.

If Claude were a weaker man, he would've wavered under the dark glare she was sending his way. But he had seen too many of those sent his direction in his lifetime that he had grown used to it. He knew there were people that wouldn't like him no matter what he did in life. Hell, there were people that hated him just for existing. But for someone who professed that everyone needed to be treated with love and respect, he was surprised to hear the venom coming out of her mouth.

“How dare you!” Claude moved to open his mouth to respond, but she interrupted him before he had the chance. “I don't care what your excuses are! You knew better than to go there!” She breathed out slowly, perhaps trying to keep herself calm and to keep from lashing out again. “Now, because of you, the holy Blade was awakened before her time. She was asleep for a reason and now you have ruined what she was meant for.”

Awakened before her time? The image of the blue-haired woman came to him. What did she mean 'what she was meant for'? She was a Blade, wasn't she? Wasn't she meant to be resonated with? Claude could sense a mystery there and his curious nature wanted it answered. However he knew that now wasn't the best time. With how the Archbishop was treating him, he knew that she wasn't in the mood for questions.

The dark feeling he felt earlier returned and made his stomach feel heavy and nauseous. He had an inkling he wasn't going to like what she was going to say next. “Fortunately for you though, there is a way you can atone for your sin. And that only requires your life.”

Claude paled. “What?!”

Sure, he knew that he had technically committed a crime by trespassing, but was that a crime worth killing him over?! Certainly there was a different way to go about this. It wasn't like he did it to spite the Church (although he technically did that already by just being a nonbeliever) and the whole resonating situation was entirely an accident. And now she wanted him dead over it? Did she realize what chaos she'd start over that? Not just with the Leicester Alliance, but with his father's side of his blood as well. She'd literally be opening up a giant nest of wyverns with what she was suggesting.

In his peripheral vision, Claude thought he saw Seteth even have a look of aghast on his face. Was he not expecting this result either? However he didn't get a chance to focus on it much further. The Archbishop was talking again. “Claude von Riegan, you have committed a grave sin against the Church by resonating with the holy Blade. For your crimes, you have been stripped of your title as heir apparent to House Riegan and the Leicester Alliance and sentenced to death by beheading.” She breathed in deeply as she motioned to the guards to tie his hands together. “May the Goddess have mercy on your soul.”

Claude tried to fight against the guards tying his hands together only to realize that it was useless. Was this… really how it was going to end for him? Had he read this whole thing… wrong?

He felt the guard finish tightening the rope around his hands while two others roughly grabbed his arms to force him to walk. He felt as if he was in a daze as the guards brushed him past the Archbishop and Seteth and forced him to leave the room and begin walking down the hall. Because of this he barely caught the brief conversation held between the two as they walked some distance behind him, but it was enough to confirm that he wasn't the only one who thought this sentence was a little much.

_'Rhea, are you certain?'_

_'Yes, Seteth. My judgment is final.'_

* * *

The door before Byleth crumbled into ashes after it briefly erupted into flames from her touch. She smirked a little as she thought back to her jealousy towards Sothis' phasing ability. Yeah, this power was much better now that she could see what could be done with it.

She took a few steps out of the doorway and looked around. Sothis was right, there wasn't any guards to be seen. But now she had no clue as to what to do next. “Now what?”

She turned to see the girl no longer in sight. Her eyes widened as she looked about trying to find her again. Where did she go? She soon got her answer. _'I disappeared for a bit.' Byleth heard a yawn. 'I cannot keep up my ethereal form for too long. It tires me out much faster than just talking to you. And since I know you still need my help like the little child you are, I decided that this would be the better option.'_

If she still had her form before her, Byleth would be glaring at it. Instead, she decided to focus on the task at hand. Where was her Wielder at? _'First, I think it is imperative that we locate our weapon first. Even if we were to find him, he would not be able to protect himself adequately without it. Even with our help.'_

Byleth supposed that made sense. But where would they store her Blade? She frowned. She had no idea of the layout of this place, so there was no way she could pull it from memory and go from there. There was a couple of rooms nearby, so perhaps it was there?

Byleth moved to begin walking down the hall where she turned a corner to see another long hallway before her. The moonlight shone through the stained glass windows that adorned it and gave her some light to work with to find her way. As she kept walking, she could see that she was coming up on another hallway. She stopped suddenly as she heard voices getting closer.

Quickly, she pressed herself against the wall next to the archway at the start of the next hallway and waited for them to pass. However she almost jumped out to grab one of the owners of those voices when she heard what it was they were talking about.

“Did the Archbishop really sentence the future Duke Riegan to death?!”

“Looks like it. I wonder what that's going to do to the Alliance. He was next in line after all. And after all that time searching for a new heir six years ago… looks like their gonna have to find a new one.”

Alliance? Duke Riegan? What did those names mean? She vaguely wondered if it they had something to do with the man who saved her. And if so, did that mean he was about to die? She took in a deep breath as she remembered the bruise she and Sothis shared on their faces. If that bruise was caused by him being injured... if her theory was correct, then what would happen to her if he were to die? _'You would return to your Crest Stone.'_

She almost jumped at Sothis' voice coming back in her head. She breathed out quietly. The last thing she needed was to get caught. _'You really need to watch doing that. You almost got us caught.'_

_'You mean to say that you did, not me?'_ Byleth could practically hear Sothis pout. _'Still, either way, we need to find a way past them. I feel like I can sense our weapon somewhere nearby in one of those rooms and if your thoughts are correct and he is sentenced to die, then we cannot tarry long. From what little I know of him, he does not deserve that fate.'_

Byleth agreed. Although she didn't know his name or anything else about him, she could tell that he was a kind man who wouldn't harm someone unless absolutely necessary. His actions back in the tomb spoke enough for her to come to that conclusion.

She peeked her head around the corner to see who it was that was talking. What came into her view were two guards that were standing watch over one of the doors located in that hallway. That she found a bit odd. Why only protect that one door and not the others? That could only mean that something precious was locked up in there. Maybe it was her weapon? She hoped so. Her chest tightened at the thought of being too late to save the man. 

He had saved her, so it only felt right to return the favor.

Byleth breathed in deeply to steal her nerves and felt the familiar warmth build up in her hands. Although she didn't want to kill them as they did nothing to her, she felt as if she had no choice. Hopefully she could just knock them out, but even with option in mind, the likelihood was slim. Either way she prayed for forgiveness for whatever happened.

Quick as a knife being pulled from its sheath, she moved from her position on the wall and began running down the hall, throwing the fire she had grown in her hands towards the two guards. It caught them off guard and made one of them drop the lance he held in his hands. Before that one could react, she pulled her arm back and made her hand into a fist and threw it out towards his face, knocking him out in one hit. She was a bit surprised by the strength she had in her (she chalked it up to her Blade status) and was just glad that she didn't kill him. The guy was going to have a major headache when he woke up however.

The other one wasn't so distracted and brought his lance into a ready position. He quickly jabbed at her, but she sidestepped the attack and grabbed ahold of the pole and forced the warmth from her hand into it causing it to heat up rather quickly. The guard yelped in pain and dropped the pole to keep it from continuing to burn his hands. Before he could have a chance to respond, Byleth brought the blunt part of the lance up against the man's head, knocking him out along with his companion.

She sighed in relief. Looks like she didn't have to kill them.

Byleth turned her attention to the door they were guarding. Bringing her hand up to the handle, she turned it, hoping that it was unlocked so that she wouldn't have to force her way in. She didn't have much time to spend on doing that. Plus, she hoped that that she was correct that her weapon was in there.

She turned the handle and sighed in relief to find that it was unlocked. After dropping the lance in her hand to the ground, she pushed the door open and walked inside. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust, but when they did, she saw, sitting off in the corner, the sword that came to life in the man's hands when he resonated with her and next to it, his silver bow and quiver.

Although she knew she originally came in her for just her weapon, she knew that he needed his too, just in case. She strode over to the weapons and quickly grabbed the quiver and attached its belt to her waist. The bow she strung around her chest to help keep it close and have one of her hands unoccupied to launch fire. And the sword she grasped in her hand. It glowed red for a brief moment as if it were happy to be back in the hands of someone it knew.

Now that she had these things in her grasp, she had to find him before it was too late.

She marched out of the room, determined look on her face and continued back down the hall towards the double doors at the end. When she reached the small foyer before them, she debated as to where she needed to go next. _'To be honest, if I were execute someone, especially if he was someone that publicly known, I would do it in a place where everyone could see.'_ Byleth turned towards the staircase to her right. Her instincts were telling her that was were she needed to go.

With the reassurance of Sothis in her mind that she was making the right choice, she ran up the stairs.

* * *

Claude was forced on his knees in the terrace located on the third floor of the main building of the monastery. He swallowed hard at the sight of the block in front of him. In the corner of his eye, he could see the executioner standing to his left, with the tip of his sword touching the stone underneath him, waiting for the order to be given.

When he glanced up, he could see the Archbishop, Rhea, he figured was her name based on the conversation he heard, and Seteth standing before him, watching the proceedings.

He was about to be sick.

Claude pulled his head back to look up at the sky and the stars that had filled so many of his childhood dreams. Well, he sighed, at least he could see them once last time before he died. He closed his eyes briefly. He could only hope that when he died, someone else would pick up on his dream of uniting Fodlan and the world together, to bring down the barriers between them. That was his only wish.

When he opened his eyes again, he caught the sight of a shooting star streaking across the sky. Was it a sign that everything would be alright? He smiled wanly. He doubted it. There was no scheming out of this one. Not this time.

“It's time.”

He was brought out of his thoughts by the voice of Rhea speaking to the executioner. He could see that the glare hadn't left her face. As much as he wanted to, he found that he didn't even have the energy to return it.

The two guards that forced him to his knees earlier now forced his head down onto the block. With his neck spread out across it, he could see the basket sitting next to the block, ready to catch his head.

Well, he supposed this was it then…

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the moment of death to arrive.

* * *

When Byleth reached the top of the stairs, she turned to her left to see another hallway extending out. She began speed walking down it while simultaneously keeping an eye out for guards. When she reached the end of the hallway to see another one heading in a different direction, she turned her gaze to look out and see what was located at the end of it.

She quietly gasped as she saw the man who saved her being forced onto a block and another man wielding a sword bringing it up over his neck.

She had to move. Now.

Byleth began to run towards the spectacle before her, desperately trying to get there before the sword dropped, but she knew that she wouldn't. She couldn't let him die.

_'Quick! Use the sword as a whip! It can be used in long distance as well as close. Use that ability to grab the sword the man has. Now!'_ Byleth didn't argue. Sothis obviously knew what she was talking about when it came to these Blade matters.

She pulled the sword back and while mentally calculating the angle and distance in her head, she threw the sword forward, still holding the handle tightly in her grasp, causing the blade part to come apart and extend like a whip. The action in itself surprised the spectators of the execution as it cut in between the regal woman from before and the green-haired man standing next to her to grab the blade the executor held. She quickly jerked it back and caused the blade be pulled from his grasp and fall against the stone floor.

The whip came back towards her and formed back into a sword. While still running, she launched herself over the woman and her companion and twisted in the air to throw fire in their direction.

Byleth vaguely heard the woman cry out for her to stop, but she disregarded it. No one would hurt him.

Landing back on her feet, she quickly threw fire all around her and the man effectively creating a fire barrier around them, cutting them off from the soldiers who were being ordered by the woman to stop her. 

Byleth turned back to look at the man to see him looking at her with a shocked look on his face. “What… How did you?”

Quickly she moved to burn the ropes off of his wrists without hurting him. “We don't really have time to talk, but once we get out of here, you can ask your questions.” Once the ropes were gone, she held the handle of the sword to him. He looked down at it, confusion etched on his face. “I believe you're my Wielder, so this should be yours.”

Slowly recognition came across his face and he gently grabbed the sword from her grasp. Immediately upon him holding it, she felt their energies connect. She turned her attention to the soldiers before her. “Are you ready to go?”

She saw him move to stand next to her. The sword now being held confidentially in his hand as he moved it into a ready position. He nodded. “Let's get out of here.”

Byleth nodded in return and began using her ability to wield fire to cause the flames around them to grow taller, causing the soldiers and the green-haired couple to move further back to escape it. She then collected the warmth in both her hands and threw them out to launch a bigger fireball that punched through the guards blocking the entrance, giving them a path to move through. 

They took it.

The two ran down through the hall towards the stairwell that led down to the second floor. They could barely hear the lady and man call out orders for the soldiers to follow them, but by the time they were able to beat back the flames, they had made their way to the second stairwell that led to the first floor.

* * *

Although Claude wasn't religious, he was sending thanks to any god or goddess that could hear him for saving his life. Although he knew that the woman he had saved back in the tomb was still in the building, he had no idea that she would return the favor and save him this time. But he wasn't complaining.

They had reached the first floor and was about to head towards the audience hall's double doors when they saw soldiers coming towards them from the doors leading towards the classrooms and graveyard as well as the audience hall itself. The soldiers must've called for help from the balcony. “Damn!” That left only one other path. He motioned for the woman to follow. “This way!”

They burst through the doors and began running across the bridge that led to the church cathedral. Before they could get too far however, the gate that blocked the church from outsiders came rolling open and some soldiers came pouring out from there too. “Shit!”

They were trapped.

The woman he could tell was unperturbed though. He watched as she summoned flames once more and created another barrier around them. Although that worked as a temporary shield for now, he knew it wouldn't last. What the hell could they do now?

He quickly racked his brain for an answer and it wasn't until he happened to see his wyvern whistle hanging from his neck that an idea came to him. His wyvern!

He glanced down towards the valley below them. He wasn't too far from where he left him. The poor thing was probably still waiting. Claude grabbed the whistle in his free hand and blew into it.

The woman looked at him confused as to what he was doing. “What are you-?”

He turned back to wink at her while smirking. “I'm getting us a ride out of here.”

She still looked confused, but the expression immediately wiped itself from her face when she heard the cry of a wyvern sounding out in the distance. Claude's grin broadened as he caught sight of his wyvern making its way towards them from below. They were getting out of here!

He quickly grabbed one of the woman's hand and spoke to her before she could protest. “See that wyvern? When it gets close enough, we're going to jump off this bridge and onto it's back.” He saw her eyes widen at his suggestion. “How will we not miss him?”

“Well, we'll just make sure that we won't then.” He winked again and looked back at his flying companion who was slowly getting closer. He turned to see the woman extending the wall of flames a bit further out as the guards were pressing their way through with ice mages now in among their party. He could see that she was starting to sweat. Whether it was from the heat or from overexerting herself he didn't know.

He glanced back at his wyvern to see that it was now time to move. He squeezed her hand to signal to her and she turned to see what he was looking at. She looked over at him. “Ready?”

Some nervous entered her eyes before it quickly disappeared. She nodded. The two turned around at the same time and began running towards the edge of the side of the bridge just as the ice mages finally broke through and the guards began running after them. Their feet stepped onto the stones that made up the sides and they launched themselves off the bridge.

His wyvern had caught on to what they were doing and flew directly under the bridge, dodging the magic and arrows being sent its way and came right underneath them, barely catching them in it's saddle. Claude quickly grabbed the woman around the waist and handed the sword for her to hold while he grasped the reins and began leading them away from the monastery.

Arrows and magic continued to be shot their way as they got further and further. He felt a few graze his skin and prayed that none hit his scaly friend.

However unbeknownst to him, a few had hit their target.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally completed this chapter! :D
> 
> *collapses*
> 
> I planned on getting this done much earlier, but unfortunately got caught up with other things that prevented me from giving this my full attention. I tend to have a fairly busy life with work and stuff that most of the time I spend it sleeping, or eating and writing. So yeah, I had to have a break somewhere in there.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the update! And now I'm off to go to sleep and work out the other half of this outline for this story when I get time for it. I have like 85% of it figured out, but the parts I'm iffy on is when Edelgard and Dimitri enter the scene. Since I have yet to play their routes, I'm going to watch let's plays so that I can make sure I make their characterizations and stories as accurate as possible. Course they won't come in for a while, but still I want to be prepared. :)
> 
> Also quick note: I changed the term 'Driver' that is used in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to describe those who resonate with Blades to 'Wielder' in this. I felt that term would fit better in this world than 'Driver' would.


	3. The Crest of Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally freed from the Church's clutches, Byleth and Claude have a moment to rest... at least until things started getting heated again.

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Drifting Souls

Chapter 3: The Crest of Flames

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth; repeat with eyes closed. Let your thoughts drift through your mind. Don't hold onto them, just let them go.

Shamir took in a deep breath as her ears caught hold of everything going on around her. The footsteps of the soldiers patrolling down the hall, the slight murmur of voices coming from the offices nearby, the birds chirping outside, she could hear it all. All of it the signs of the start of a peaceful day at Garreg Mach.

As she continued to let her mind stay at peace, she heard one particular set of footsteps that caught her attention. She could tell from the sound of them that they didn't belong to a soldier, nor did they belong to any of the teachers who frequented these halls. Plus they didn't sound like those of her partner's either. She had a more particular way of announcing her presence which definitely showed in her gait.

Easing herself out of her mantra, she stopped leaning against the wall and turned her attention towards the person who was getting closer. As they rounded the corner, she found that the footsteps in question belonged to the old librarian, Tomas. Ah, she should've known. His was definitely one of the more unique ones. Especially when the sound of the cane was added into the mix. 

At first she was a little confused as to why he was here, but after she remembered what was located on this floor, she knew it would only make sense for him to be heading that direction. It was the start of another school day after all. A librarian did need to be in the library just in case any student decided to seek them out for guidance towards the perfect book.

Still, Shamir knew to always be cautious regardless of how well known a person was.

She couldn't afford not to. She had learned the hard way that she needed to be that way, through what she had experienced some time after being woken by her partner.

Technically she was her Wielder, but they had both agreed that they didn't care for that term and decided on the one they were currently using instead.

Now, if only said person would get here soon. The person they were expected to meet soon wouldn't like for them to be tardy. Especially that of her adviser. She huffed. The poor guy needed to get out more honestly. That would certainly help lighten him up a bit, but she doubted even then that would go very far.

“Ah, Shamir! It's a surprise to see you here.” Tomas had caught her standing next to the large doors leading to the audience chamber. He made his way over towards her, moving as quickly as his age and cane would allow. 

Although she didn't really want to have a conversation with the man, she knew that she didn't really have much of a choice. She didn't need to look rude. It certainly wouldn't bode well for either one of them. “Do you have an audience with the Archbishop today?”

Exhaling slowly, Shamir decided to humor the man. It looked like her partner wasn't going to get here for a few more moments anyway… “Yes. Catherine and I both do.”

A smile came across the old man's face at the sound of her partner's name. “Ah, yes, Thunderstrike Catherine. One of the most famous knights of Seiros. If the Archbishop herself has called both of you here, there must be something very important she has to tell you.”

Shamir vaguely wondered if he had heard all of the gossip coming from the servants and soldiers that frequented the halls of the monastery. Although she didn't get all of the details, she knew enough to know that it had to do with someone very important from the Leicester Alliance and was the reason why all the soldiers were being mobilized as they were.

She was also sure that whatever happened was the reason why she and Catherine were summoned to see the head of the Church herself. She had her theories as to why they were needed, but she decided to keep them to herself for now. Especially since what had exactly happened hadn't even reached everyone's ears just yet apparently.

“Indeed.” Shamir hoped that that would be in the end of it, but knowing Tomas he'd still try to press her for more information. The scholarly types tended to be like that. One professor in particular came to mind when she thought of an example. Luckily for her the familiar sound of a certain set pair of footsteps grew near. Her partner had finally arrived.

She crossed her arms as she cocked her head towards the aforementioned person. “Ah, so you finally decided to make it? And her I thought I was going to have come find you and drag you here myself.”

Her partner just laughed. The sound of it echoed against the monastery walls. “Sorry, had to deal with a few last minute things before I got here. I'm not too late, am I?”

Shamir shook her head. “Lucky for you, we have a few minutes to spare. Any later and I'm sure Seteth would've sent out a search party.”

Her parner laughed again and opened her mouth to respond, before she was interrupted by Tomas. “Ah, Lady Catherine! So nice to see you again! It's been a long time!”

Shamir watched as Catherine turned her smile towards the old man. “It certainly has. You been doing alright there, old man?”

He nodded. “Aside from these aching bones, I've been doing pretty well. Keeping up with the young ones at the Academy certainly helps with that.” A few chuckles came out of his mouth. “Makes me feel young again.”

Shamir was certain the two would've continued their conversation for some time, but luckily it was at that moment that Seteth decided to make his presence known as he walked down the hall that led to his office. “Ah, I'm glad to see that you made it on time. I was afraid I'd have to send someone to come find you.”

Catherine turned her attention towards the green-haired man. “Hey now, I may take my time getting somewhere, but when it's for Lady Rhea, I'm never late.”

Seteth huffed. “Even so, you do have a propensity for it. So forgive me for thinking this would be the case for this situation as well.” He motioned to the door that led to the audience chamber. “Shall we?”

After giving their farewells, to Tomas, Shamir and Catherine followed Seteth into the next room, eager to see exactly what it was the Archbishop had summoned them for.

* * *

The light from the stained glass windows that stood in the far back of the room washed Rhea in an almost ethereal glow. From this image, Shamir could easily see how people would follow Rhea to the death and believe in the religion she preached. Although the woman had helped her out in a few instances shortly after she had been awoken, she didn't count herself as one who was wholly devoted to her cause.

She still pledged loyalty to her both due to wanting to pay back the debt she owed along with the fact that Catherine completely believed in her. And as a Blade, she couldn't refuse her Wielder. Fortunately neither party took offense to it and allowed to keep her mindset, never pushing her to accept what they saw as truth.

And she was grateful for it. For this, in turn, allowed her to scrutinize everything that was said to either her or Catherine. If she felt that anyone, including those of the church, harbored any ill will towards herself or to Catherine, then she would effectively end them.

Rhea sighed as she composed herself to speak to the two standing before her. “I suppose you two are wondering why I summoned you here today. I'm certain you have heard about commotion that occurred last night on the monastery grounds. While Seteth and I have tried to keep it under tight wraps until an official announcement is made, it seems as if some of our knights have started to talk amongst themselves and that in turn has caused rumors to spread.”

Shamir placed her hand onto her hip, eager to figure out exactly what had happened. “So, if I may, what is the truth then? The most I've heard is that it involves someone from the Leicester Alliance, but that's all I have so far.”

She studied the reactions of the two standing before her. Regardless of what they revealed verbally, if there was something they were hiding, she would catch it. Body language could be very telling. “What you heard was true, but you did not hear who it was exactly.”

“Who is it?” Catherine questioned. Based on her partner's stance, she could see that although she was being patient, she didn't want the answer to be drawn out. She wanted to know fully who it was they were dealing with.

Shamir noticed Seteth send Rhea a quick side glance and a frown before re-focusing his attention back onto her and Catherine before he spoke. _Well, that was interesting…_ “The person in question is the heir to the Riegan line, Claude von Riegan.”

She could see Catherine's eyes widening. “Claude? That prankster kid who was the head of the Golden Deer five years ago? _That_ Claude?” Seteth and Rhea nodded as she heard Catherine snort in laughter. “No offense, but what did he do that was so bad? I mean, I know he caused trouble back when he was at the Academy, but it was all harmless fun in hindsight. So what did he do this time?”

Shamir's eyes narrowed a bit when she noticed Rhea gripping her hands. Her eyesight traveled up to see that a small frown had formed on the Archbishop's face and could practically feel the fire that was present within her eyes. Whatever Claude did apparently didn't sit well with Rhea. She suddenly found herself afraid for the man.

The voice that came from Rhea's mouth was hardened and filled with a slight hint of rage. It was a sound that Shamir recalled hearing come from her when she dealt with those who attempted to subvert the teachings of the church to do despicable things as well as when someone attempted to harm herself or those of the children at the Academy. That tone gave her some clues as to what exactly it was that Claude did.

“He broke into the Holy Tomb and stole one of the most precious artifacts that lay there. I don't know how he managed to get a hold of it, let alone use it, but he now has this artifact in his hands and I'm afraid to know what he means to do with it.” The heat in Rhea's gaze would've been enough to set the monastery ablaze with how directed it was. 

How Rhea spoke of this 'artifact' made Shamir wonder exactly what it was. She tried to run through a mental inventory of what was stored there and there was nothing she could think of that would be so sacred that Rhea would be so riled over. But considering the fact that the artifact was sacred, that probably spoke for itself. “So you want us to get it back for you, am I correct?”

Rhea turned her gaze towards her. She didn't flinch. “I want you to take back the artifact he stole and to drag him back here so that he can be fittingly punished for his crimes and if he doesn't come willingly or at all, then I want you to carry out his sentence yourselves.”

Catherine's voice took a serious tone. “Which is…?”

Rhea looked at her, finality in her voice. “Death.” 

Shamir saw the look of shock show on Catherine's face for a brief moment before it changed over into one of acknowledgment. She bowed, Shamir following shortly afterwards. “It will be as you wish, my Lady.”

When Shamir returned back to her standing position, she noticed that for a short moment that Seteth looked grieved at what Rhea had said. Before she could think too long on it though, Catherine had begun to walk back towards the double doors leading out to where they were earlier. Shamir turned to follow.

Before they could get too far however, Rhea called out to them. “None of what you heard here goes beyond these walls.” Shamir and Catherine turned around, the heat still present in Rhea's eyes. “Until I announce it personally myself, this should be done quickly and silently. If do you manage to bring him back here, then I will make the announcement and promptly show what happens to those who defile the church and it's artifacts!”

Both of the women nodded their acknowledgment and turned to leave. They had a mission to complete.

* * *

Byleth had no idea what to do.

She tried racking her brain for anything, something, to help with the situation, but unfortunately with her lack of memories and subsequent knowledge of how to deal with something like this, she wasn't sure how she should help. All she could do was frown and try to help her companion save the wyvern that had flown them to safety the best she could.

But she had a feeling it was all for nothing.

Hearing the beast breathing heavily and seeing all the arrows that they had yet to remove still protruding from its chest and wings during their attempt at healing him with vulnaries, was enough to convince Byleth that it was no use. But with how desperate her companion was at trying to heal it, she still had to try.

“C'mon! Don't give up on me now!” She could hear him pleading with the creature to fight and survive against it's wounds and while she could see that it was trying, the light was slowly dying in it's eyes.

Although she was still unsure of what it was she should do, she did know that he was fighting a losing battle. He had to let it go. Gingerly, and with some slight hesitance, she placed her hand on his shoulder. He froze and went silent. Her voice was quiet as she tried to find a way to explain to him that his wyvern wasn't going to make it. “It's no use. I think we've tried everything. There's just too much.”

He let go of the breath he had been holding and the tension seeped out of his body. She frowned as she realized that he had accepted what was about to happen.

Her heart ached as he attempted to comfort the beast, speaking to it in low tones as a comforting gesture. The sadness grew even more when she saw the wyvern take it's last breaths, it's eyes closing for the last time.

Byleth held her hand to his shoulder for a few moments more, her thumb rubbing on his shoulder to try and give him some comfort, before she let go. She watched with a solemn expression as he leaned over towards the creature's snout and spoke a phrase she didn't quite understand before pulling himself away.

He sighed and shifted his attention back over towards the luggage bag that was still strapped to the wyvern and began gathering things from it. He handed her one of the bags he had detached from the beast. “Here, hold this. We're gonna need this stuff if we're gonna keep moving.”

She said nothing as he continued sifting through the things for a few moments more before tying up his own bag and standing up. She stood up next to him, tossing the straps of the bag over her shoulders. “We need to go. We can't stay here for too much longer. If I know the church like they do, they're gonna send someone out after us as soon as they can. They're quite punctual with that.”

And with that, he turned around quickly and began walking deeper into the forest. After a short glance back at the wyvern's body, Byleth followed after him.

Silence echoed between them as they continued their trek. After a few moments passed, Byleth began wringing her hands. She wanted to try and say something to him, but honestly, she had no clue where to start. With her memory loss, there wasn't much to pull from.

Luckily, she didn't have to dwell on it much longer.

“My name is Claude.”

She was surprised for a moment as she wasn't expecting him to say anything. She knew he was probably still dealing with the loss of his wyvern which was another reason why she was hesitating on saying anything to him. Still, she knew she needed to respond. “Byleth.”

She heard him hum slightly. Perhaps he had heard of it before? “Byleth, huh? That's an interesting name.” That didn't really tell her much. “Well, Byleth, I know we hadn't really had time to get to know each other with all this craziness going on, but hopefully once we near a village, we can try to get those questions answered.”

His gaze still stared forward as if trying to make sure they were heading the right direction. “Do you know where we're headed exactly?” She didn't want him to think she was doubting him, but she wanted to make sure he knew what he was doing. At this point, she was relying on him to be a good guide.

Claude made another noise before turning his torso to the side to reach into one of the bags he had taken from the wyvern. After a few moments of rustling, she watched as he pulled out a folded piece of paper. She was momentarily confused as to what it was, but when she saw what looked to be a giant landmass drawn on it, a memory of seeing one before came to mind that helped her realize what it was. “A map?”

She froze for moment afterward. How did she remember that? Maybe because it was basic knowledge or something? She was confused. How did this memory loss thing work exactly?

Byleth probably would've continued on this train of thought had it not been for Claude confirming that the object was indeed what she thought it was. “Yep. With this, I should be able to see where we're at and where we need to be going.”

She took a few steps closer to him to get a better visual of their location. He pointed to a building sitting atop some mountains. “This is where we were: Garreg Mach Monastery.” He moved his finger to trace their path. “We flew down this side of the mountains to this forest here.”

Next to his where his finger rested, Byleth could see another word next to it and from what the picture showed, it looked to be some houses. “So, would that be a village right there?” She pointed at the word in question. “R-Remire?”

She looked over at him. “Did I say that right?”

He smiled as he nodded. “You said it correctly.” He turned his attention back to the map. “Looks like we got a little more walking to do before we reach it.” A frown formed on his face. “And when we do reach it, we'll need to disguise ourselves.”

She cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Why would we need to do that?”

Claude looked back over to her as he returned the map back to the bag. “Unfortunately I'm quite a recognizable figure and since it's the church we're hiding from, I, along with you since you're traveling with me, need to keep a low profile. We don't want to give our location away.”

He sighed as he started to walk again. “We're not going to stay in Remire for too long anyway. Once I figure out what to do, we're going to move again.”

Part of her wanted to question him as to what it was they were going to do, but she decided to just keep quiet and let him ponder on it some more. She jogged a little to catch up with him all the while wondering what this 'Remire' would look like.

* * *

As they entered the village, Claude made sure to tighten the hood of his cloak closer to his head. Although he wasn't exactly in Leicester territory, he knew that there was still the possibility that someone here would recognize him and relay that information to the church. And that was definitely the last thing he needed right now.

Another thing that definitely worked out in his favor was the fact that due to the village's proximity of it being so close to the church as well as being in between Faerghus and Adrestrian terriroty, it was fairly easy for the both of them to just walk right into the village without anyone being none the wiser since so many people tended to use it as a resting spot during their traveling.

Byleth.

He was going to have to get used to calling her that.

He definitely wasn't meaning it in a derogatory way, but for someone who had been searching for years for the Blade belonging to the Sword of the Creator, it was kind of hard to separate the two. And now that that moment had arrived for him, it's was still trying to sink in.

He now had the Sword of the Creator which meant he was one step closer to fulfilling his dream. And although he knew that a Blade was going to come with it, he never imagined it would be quite like her.

Claude glanced back for a moment to see Byleth, the Blade in question, turning her gaze towards the inhabitants of the village. He could see the curiousness in her eyes about what they were doing and he had a feeling that he was going to get asked a few questions about it once they got somewhere safe.

Speaking of questions, he turned his attention down to the sword hidden at his waist, she did promise to answer some of those he had in regards to what had took place earlier that day. His eyes narrowed slightly as he caught sight of their destination.

Hopefully she wouldn't dodge any of them. He had been lied to too often in his life to have that be done to him again.

Claude gently gripped her arm to bring her attention towards the building they were now standing next to. Luckily, she didn't take much prodding for she followed him without protesting. 

Once they were inside, Claude quickly glanced about the room to find where the owner of the building would be. He didn't want them to stay exposed for too long for he knew if even just one person saw them, outside of those who needed to, it would lead to some problems when they had to get out quickly.

Fortunately it didn't take too long to find them as they stood behind a nearby desk looking through what was surely to be their bookings for the rooms they held on the second floor of the building. Claude breathed in deeply. Time to pull out his charm.

As they were walking over, Claude spoke quickly to Byleth informing her to follow his lead. He didn't want to assume that she would catch on, but just in case, he wanted her to be in the know. “Hello, there, good sir,” A smile spread across his face. “me and my companion here need to ask if you, by chance, have a room available?”

The man gave them a once over. Claude felt a bit of concern rise within him that the man had recognized him or at least his skin tone and was going to deny them service, but luckily for him that wasn't the case. “Names?”

Claude thanked the stars above for the expertise he had built up during his days at the Academy for helping him come up with lies on the spot. “Name's Joshua.” He glanced over at Byleth to see her watching the exchange take place with a blank expression. “Hers is Natasha.”

The man shifted his gaze to the woman standing next to Claude, giving her a look as well. After a few moments passed, he conceded. “Alright then. You got the gold to pay for the room?”

After the money and key were exchanged, Claude and Byleth made their way up to the second floor, where, Claude hoped, all his questions would be answered.

* * *

Once the door opened up, Byleth could see the tiny room spread out before them. Some of the furniture she recognized from her short time of being locked in the tiny room back at the place they had escaped from. The one piece of furniture on the left side of the room though she didn't recognize. 

What was it exactly? Another table? But it looked soft when compared to the table on the other side of the room…

“You can take the bed.” Byleth turned towards the man standing behind her to see him motioning to the thing she had just been wondering about. “Considering I found you sleeping in a chair when we first met, I'm sure you'd rather fall asleep somewhere else. I can take the lounge next to the table.”

Byleth glanced over at the lounge in question and watched for a few moments as moved to place his bags next to it. She, in turn, decided to do the same with the things she was carrying.

She took a few steps over to the 'bed' he had pointed out earlier and sat the bags down onto the ground next to one it's legs. With a slight glare and curious turn of the head, Byleth took in the strange piece of furniture. She was a bit hesitant to get on it, but after recalling what Claude said earlier, she deduced that it was meant for sleeping.

Turning around, Byleth lowered herself down onto the object and was surprised to find that it was as soft as it looked. She spread her hands out over the white material that covered said object. What was it?

“You look like you've never seen a bed before.” Once again, Claude's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and back to him.

She shook her head in response to his observation. “No, I haven't.”

A confused look came over his face. She had a feeling that he either didn't believe her or couldn't understand what he was hearing. “Just how long were you asleep for?”

She furrowed her eyebrows together, trying to come up with an answer. But, like everything else, nothing came to her. “I don't know. I honestly don't remember anything about how I got there or why I was even there in the first place.”

She took in a deep breath. “I didn't even know I was a Blade until it was explained to me.”

Byleth watched as he brought a hand up to his face, rubbing his chin as his confusion grew deeper. “'Explained to you?' Who explained it to you?”

She turned her gaze towards the floor. For some reason she was more hesitant about answering this question. Was it because she was afraid that he would think she was crazy? For seeing and hearing someone that only she could?

She tried to swallow down the anxiety she was feeling and almost felt overwhelmed by it until she saw a familiar hand appear in her line of vision and she looked over to see it was Sothis floating next to her. Instead of saying anything that help give her comfort, she simply smiled. That motion gave her enough courage to push back the emotion she was feeling and speak again. “I, I know this sounds crazy, but there's this, this girl I can see. She was one who explained what I was and how to use my powers as a Blade.” She turned her head back to look at Claude directly. “She also said that you were my Wielder and that we needed to protect you.”

If it were possible, even more confusion seemed to radiate from him. “A girl?” Byleth saw his eyes dart around the room trying to see if he could see her. When nothing, she presumed, came into his vision as she was floating right next to her, he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Honestly, I don't know if I entirely believe you, but after the events that happened today, it's hard to put anything down to just hearsay.”

Byleth frowned a bit. It hurt that he thought that, but she also knew that he had more knowledge to work with than she did. She honestly had no choice but to believe that it was the truth. Plus with the evidence of what she did earlier to back it up, she knew it just had to be. Also, he couldn't see Sothis like she could and that definitely didn't help her case.

“But the whole 'Wielder' thing? As much as I'm ecstatic that the Blade to the Sword of the Creator says I'm their Wielder, it shouldn't be possible.” Seeing Byleth cock her head to the side in confusion, he continued. “I hold the Crest of Riegan in my blood. And the person that's supposed to wield you is one who has the Crest of Flames.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together again. “Crests? Sorry, but I'm not sure what that is exactly.”

Once more, the shocked expression reappeared on Claude's face. “You don't know what Crests are?! How is that even possible? Crests are essential to how Blades work.” She watched as once again ran one of his hands through his hair as he continued to explain. “In order to wield a Blade, you have to have a Crest in your blood. It's a magical sigil that's said to have been given to humans by the Goddess, if you follow the Church's teachings. It's passed down through a person's bloodline and gives them special abilities depending on which one's possessed.”

He moved to take a seat on the lounge. “To go further with that, also depending on which one you possess, you can wield a special weapon called a Blade. There's at least 12 that I know of. 10 once belonged to the Ten Elites, one to the King of Liberation and the other has been lost to time. No one's for sure where it's at.”

She took in his words. She could recall none of what he was telling her. “So I'm a weapon then?”

He nodded. “Basically. Blades are essentially the physical representation of the weapon that's produced from the Crest Stone. The Blade acts as a conduit for it's Wielder and through their link they're able to use the magical energy in the environment to send power to the Wielder so that they can use the weapon to it's full potential.”

Byleth nodded. She was slowly absorbing what he was telling her. Questions still remained however. “You mentioned a Crest Stone. What is that exactly?” She recalled Sothis mentioning it before during their search for Claude, but she didn't push her further on it since it wasn't the time.

“A Crest Stone is a round, red orb that both the Blade and weapon are sealed inside when they haven't resonated with someone who bears the Crest that matches the one on the Stone.” Claude's face took on a serious look. “This is why only someone who's Crest matches with the Blade can be their Wielder. They're the only ones who can awaken them. If the wrong person tries to awaken it, well… from what I've heard it isn't pretty.”

He took in a breath and looked over at the Sword of the Creator, the weapon she was the Blade to. “But… somehow that wasn't the case with me. Why?” He looked back at her. “How can I wield you?”

She turned her attention away from him and looked over at Sothis who had been floating nearby just watching the exchange take place between them. She knew that the girl would have an idea of how this was possible since, if she recalled correctly, she was the one who helped her connect to him in the first place.

As if sensing her gaze, the girl in question turned her head to look at her and with unflinching look, simply put her hand on her chest and shifted her eyes towards Claude. Byleth was confused by the gesture at first until she remembered him being run through during the battle with the bandits. Was that what Sothis was referring to? But why?

She wanted to ask, but based on the annoyed look Sothis gave her, she figured that this was all she was going to get out of her. She turned her attention back towards Claude who was giving her a look that told her that he was trying to get a read on what it was she was doing. She shifted a little under his scrutinizing gaze and decided just to go for it. “Have you checked your wound?”

His eyebrows furrowed together. “Wound?”

“The one the bandit gave you when he ran you through?”

A look of comprehension slowly dawned on his face as he realized what she was referring to. Looking down at his shirt, he placed one of his hands on the place where the sword entered into his body. His fingers rubbed at the spot for a few seconds before stilling suddenly.

Byleth watched as he quickly undid the buttons on his shirt until the area in question was exposed. Their eyes widened as strange markings, glowing red, became gradually visible until it revealed a symbol that looked similar to a group of flames flaring up.

Byelth didn't recognize the pattern, but from what she could see of Claude's reaction, he did.

“That's...” His hands were shaking slightly. “That's the Crest of Flames! But how-?”

He jerked his head up towards her, shock and some slight wonder in his eyes. “How did this get here?”

Byleth honestly didn't know. She glanced back over to where Sothis was floating to see her no longer there. She frowned. Looks like she was going to have to figure this one out on her own.

She went back over the events in her mind that took place shortly after Claude had been impaled. She remembered throwing fire at the man who had attacked him, then Sothis telling her to go to Claude, her putting her hand on his wound and his hand on her chest where her heart was, then the warm feeling that formed in her heart afterward...

Byleth froze. Was that why it was there? Could it be? She looked back over at Claude. “Where are Crest Stones usually located for Blades?”

Claude was thrown off by the question. She could tell that he didn't know how this pertained to why that mark was on his chest. “They're usually visible on the Blade's chest, near their heart.”

Byleth looked down to where her Crest Stone should have been seen, but there was nothing. Then how? Maybe it was inside her instead?

Still, regardless of whether it was visible or not, she knew it was there, the warm feeling she felt was evidence enough. “I think…” She returned to look at the man before her. “I think I may have given you a piece of the Crest Stone to prevent you from dying.”

“What…?”

She continued. “That in turn, I guess, must've made it to where you could awaken it. Since the Crest is technically in your blood now.”

Claude sagged back into his chair as the information he had just learned started to sink in. Although she had no idea how he processing it or what emotions he was feeling, she could tell that it was a lot just based on the blank look he wore.

Byleth placed her hand on her chest where her Crest Stone should be located. She had a lot more questions that needed to be answered and she figured he was in that same mindset as well. They both had learned a lot tonight and she had a funny feeling that it was going to be that way for the rest of their time together.

A wave of tiredness came over her and though she tried to stifle the yawn that was trying to come out of her mouth, she ultimately failed. This was enough to pull Claude of his contemplation and brought a small smile mouth. His eyes didn't reflect this motion however. “Perhaps we should call it a night. We can figure out more of this stuff tomorrow when our minds aren't bogged down with sleep.”

He stood up from the chair while grabbing the bag he had sat down earlier and walked over to a nearby door. “I'm going to go ahead and clean up. You can go ahead and go to sleep. Though I'm sure you're tired of it, with all the power you used today, you're probably not used to it.”

He opened the door and closed it behind him and after a few moments passed, she could hear the sound of moving water coming from beyond the door.

Byleth yawned again and lowered herself down onto the bed, the softness of it underneath her slowly easing her into a comfortable slumber. Her mind, still trying to hang on to the questions jumping around in it, started to grow quiet.

Claude was right, it was definitely much better than the stone chair she had slept in before.

* * *

Claude's fingers traced over the Flames sigil on his chest. He could feel it through his fresh shirt (he had to throw away the other one due to all the blood on the back) and although he had seen the symbol for himself, it still had yet to sink in that he now had it branded on him.

He glanced over at the bed to see Byleth sleeping, a look of peace etched on her face not unlike the one he saw when he first met her. He was still unsure about her. Sure, he didn't think she really meant him any real harm, but her story about not knowing she was a Blade to apparently seeing a girl he couldn't didn't sit right with him. 

From all the research he did into Blades, they knew what they were and they weren't confused as to how they could do certain things. Plus, none of his studies said anything about Blades seeing other people that helped them use their powers. Unless, perhaps, that was just exclusive to the Blade of the Sword of the Creator?

He sighed. That could be a possibility. Not much was really know about her since only one person had wielded her before. Well, until him at least anyway.

Maybe that's why it was hard for him to wrap his mind around it. She didn't fit into what he knew about Blades and that made it more difficult for him to believe her. Still…

She didn't bare any symbols on her showing she was a Blade, nor was the Crest Stone glowing on her chest. To anyone looking at her, she looked like a normal human and not a supernatural being.

Which, honestly, did help with them trying to lay low, but Claude felt that there was a bigger reason why that was the case. He couldn't put a finger on that reason however and that was what was bugging him.

He wanted to know. No, he _needed_ to know. 

Claude sighed again and turned his eyes up towards the ceiling, trying to will sleep to come to him. Unfortunately it was hard to come by since not only was he thinking about the revelations that had occurred earlier, he was also concerned about the predicament he was in regarding the Church. 

He closed his eyes to try and calm down his mind. One thing he did know for certain regarding the whole situation was that he was going to figure out why she was this way. And more importantly:

Why was she down in that Tomb in the first place?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got done with this chapter! :D
> 
> Had a brief bought with writer's block for a bit there, but once I started working on it, it started making its way from my brain to the computer document.
> 
> I originally had this be a bit longer, but after nearly 7,000 words, I decided that the other scenes I had planned for this would do better in the next chapter. Otherwise this would've been a LOT longer.
> 
> Also, a little fun fact, I based the title of this fic on one of the theme songs from XC2 called Drifting Soul. The song in question is a good one and is basically the theme for ALL the characters in this fic, so I do recommend listening to it if you get the chance. Here's a [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvTb1VgABw8) if you're curious! :)
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter! Until the next one!
> 
> (Also, I did a little edit on the previous chapter, just removed a sentence cause I felt it took from the overall feeling of desperateness that the latter half of the chapter had. Just to let y'all know.)


	4. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reunion is had. But that doesn't mean all is well.
> 
> ~~
> 
> ***WARNING***
> 
> I'm putting a trigger warning on this chapter in terms of some brief heavily implied violence at the very beginning of it along with there being two instances of people having panic attacks. If you feel bothered by any of this, I recommend proceeding with caution. I know personally myself, I can get bothered by reading about people having a panic attack since that can lead to it happening to me. And if I experience this, I'm sure others can too.
> 
> Just giving you a heads up!

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Drifting Souls

Chapter 4: Reunion

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

_The executioner’s sword gleamed bright in the moonlight._

_ Claude gulped as the guards forced his head down onto the slab of stone. Immediately, he knew that this was it._

_ Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he kept expecting someone to appear and rescue him from this situation, but he knew that wouldn't be happening. Not this time anyway…_

_ In the corner of his eye, he saw the weapon being lifted up into the air, and his breath stopped when one part of it touched his neck for a brief moment before disappearing._

_ He clenched his eyes shut knowing full well what was coming next._

_ The blade came down so fast he could hear the wind flying past it and before he knew it got close enough that it–_

Claude's eyes shot open wide as he flew out of bed, his breath coming out in pants and his hands gripping his throat and head to confirm that, yes, his head was still attached to his body and that he was alive and not…

Breathing heavily, Claude tried desperately to fight down the nausea. At first he wasn't very successful, but after he forced his eyes closed and started through the motions of calming himself down by using techniques he had been taught as a child to help deal with all the night terrors he had back then.

Tragically enough, this time would be no different.

Breathing in and out slowly, he started to hone in on his surroundings and used them to help ground himself in reality. As he began to come back to his senses, he removed his hands from their place on his upper body and touched the cushion of the lounge. Feeling it's softness helped his mind further come to the realization that he was safe and wasn't in the church anymore.

Letting out another deep breath, Claude slowly opened his eyes and shifted his gaze to see Byleth still sleeping on the bed nearby. Seeing her lying there finally made his thoughts shift from panicking to calm.

If she was here, that meant she saved him and that he was no longer in danger.

Well, in danger of terms of it being immediate, as there was still the danger that the church would find them, but he knew that for right now, he didn't need to dwell on that. He needed to calm his mind down, not rile it back up again.

Another deep breath came out of him again and finally he felt his heartbeat return to its normal pace. Claude ran his hands through his hair as he curled into a slight ball to help calm his body even more.

He stayed in that position for a few more moments, before finally uncurling himself and looking in the room around him. The sunlight that filtered in through the closed curtains helped shine light on the once dark room. 

Based on where he could see the shadows resting from the furniture positioned on the floor, he knew that it had been at least an hour or two since the sun had risen. That meant that the village was now starting to wake up and it was a sign that they needed to get a move on before anyone managed to recognize them.

And that definitely was the last thing either one of them needed.

With one clean motion, Claude tossed his blanket off of his body and just as his feet touched the floor, his stomach decided to make it's presence known with a loud growl.

Well, first things first, he guessed, he needed to get something to eat.

His eyes came across Byleth again. 

Scratch that, he needed to get _them_ both some something to eat.

Traveling with another companion after being so used to doing it alone was certainly going to take some adjusting. Luckily though, he didn't think it would take that long. The biggest thing he knew that would, would be having to bring her up to speed on Fodlan and it's people due to her amnesia issue.

Which there was nothing wrong with her having it, but Claude knew that it would definitely be a problem. But from what little they interacted with each other after they left the monastery, he noticed that she was able to pick up on his hints and clues very easily. She understood what he was doing and trusted him on their way here.

But to have that trust go back towards her from him? Well… that would probably take a while.

However with the way she answered his questions last night without much, if any, hesitation, was a good sign that eventually that would happen. Still, Claude knew better than to jump fully into something without more information. Past experiences showed him that he definitely needed more than just the few conversations they shared. Even with her amnesia being figured in as a factor.

Because although it appeared that her condition was real, he still couldn't get the irrational fear out of his head that she might just be lying to him in order to get close enough to hurt him. And he didn't want to play the role of the fool. 

As he pulled his shoes onto his feet, Claude smiled as he recalled the innkeeper mentioning to them the night previous about how they were promised a free breakfast during their first day.

And who was he to give up an opportunity like that?

* * *

Claude pulled his cloak closer to his head as he made his way down the stairs and out into the open floor below. While he didn't see many people up during this time, he still wanted to draw as little attention as possible so that he could easily get what he wanted and get out without anyone being none the wiser.

After inquiring about what was being made, he placed his order and stood in a corner to scan the room for anyone who might be deemed important. From his vantage point, he didn't see any soldiers or people affiliated with the church so that was a plus. Hopefully none of them would appear until after he and Byleth left and got well away from the village. He would feel a lot better once they did.

Which then led to his next concern which he was still trying to figure out.

Where were they going to go?

Claude knew based on what he saw on the map that there was very few places they could hide where the church didn't have influence. And even then, he was sure that all of those options he saw had people living in them that, given the opportunity, would gladly turn them over.

Another idea he briefly considered was leaving Fodlan by either crossing the border or hopping across the sea, but that would be an ordeal in itself. While he _did_ have connections in a certain foreign land located east of the country, he didn't want to pull those strings unless he had no other choice.

Which, honestly, was looking more and more like he would have to. And he _really_ didn't want to.

The last thing he could think of was what writing letters to both his grandfather and the other nobles of the roundtable, more specifically, their children, all of which he attended the academy with and who would be willing to hear him out and know that as mischievous as he was, he wouldn't dare do something that would draw the church's ire. At least nothing intentional, which was exactly the case here.

He never intended on awakening the Blade to the Sword of the Creator. Gaze upon it, yes. Maybe one day work to obtain it, of course. But to actually steal it and awaken it? That was a lot to do, even for him.

But unfortunately the Archbishop, Rhea being her name, he remembered, decided even with his best intentions, he deserved death.

The thought was not only terrifying, but also infuriating.

As someone who was learning to be a leader, it was drilled into Claude's head that he needed to listen to people and try to understand where they were coming from in order to judge someone fairly. To be completely closed off and refusing to listen when someone was trying to explain what was going on, was an affront to that.

Sure, he had heard from various rumors and whispers over the years that the church was too zealous in using their power over the three countries. And there were even some who believed that it wasn't actually the three countries that were in power over their own faculties, that instead it was the church who truly held it.

And after experiencing her stripping him of his title and sentencing him to death without having anyone to speak for him or vouch on his behalf was enough to make him realize that there was truth in those words. Sure, he felt that Seteth did try to change her mind, but he wasn't the Archbishop. Overall his words didn't matter.

Claude was glad he managed to escape. He knew if word of his death, no execution, had reached all across Fodlan, Rhea would've had hell to pay. And she probably would still have to since Alliance would suddenly be scrambling now to try and find another person to take his spot after putting a lot of effort into finding him in the first place.

Which, honestly, wouldn't be that hard to do. He knew that automatically, the next leader for the Alliance would fall to Count Gloucester after his grandfather and by extension to Count Gloucester's son, Lorenz.

And although he and Lorenz had butted heads over the years, he knew the man would do what was right by the Alliance. But he had a feeling though that his father would try to find some way to make it to where he was in fact the one in power and not his son.

And that man, he didn't trust as far as he could shoot an arrow.

Put bluntly, he was an asshole.

Claude had no doubt the man would be delighted upon hearing the news of him no longer being in line for the Riegan dukedom and would take immediate action to ensure that he wouldn't be able to get it back.

Which was the reason why it made it more important that he send letters out to Lorenz and the other parties to try and get them to convince their parents and his grandfather of his innocence.

It was his only shot and he had to take it no matter the outcome.

Claude's attention drew away from his inner monologue and out towards the innkeeper who had made his way over to tell him that their food was ready. After quickly thanking the man and grabbing hold of the warm plates, Claude started to make his way back upstairs.

...only to immediately run into someone, causing his and Byleth's food to clatter to the floor.

Well, shit.

“Oh, shit, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I'll pay for your food to be replaced!”

Claude shook his head as he leaned over to pull the, luckily unbroken, dishes off the floor. Although he was upset at the loss, he was more annoyed at that than he was at the person. “No, it's alright. Accidents happen.”

He could practically hear the frown in the person's voice. “I insist though! I, of all people, know what it feels like go without food. Just tell me what it was you had ordered and I'll get the cook to make it for you again.”

Claude leaned up, a smile on his face to help assure the person that it was alright. “Honestly, it's alright. You don't have to.”

When he didn't hear a response from them, he grew concerned and a bit worried. They didn't recognize him, did they?

“Claude...? Is that you?”

Shit, they did.

Mentally he started running through various scenarios in his head of how to get out of this situation, when he decided to get a good look at the person in question so he could get an idea of who he was dealing with. However, upon realizing who it was, a wave of relief instantly came over him.

He never thought he'd say it, but she was certainly a sight for sore eyes. “Leonie? What are you doing here?”

She laughed. “I was about to ask you the same question. I'm here with my mercenary group about to get ready to travel to our next destination. But what about you?” He watched her glance about the room obviously searching for something. “Where's the entourage that you usually travel with? Your gramps let you travel with one?”

He sighed, a little bit afraid to have this conversation. But, to be truthful, he knew he could trust her with his information, like Lorenz and the other ruling noble's children, Leonie was another classmate of his and while brash, she knew the importance of a secret. And her being here was probably just what he needed to help figure out exactly what to do next.

“Honestly, it's a long story….”

She smiled and waved her hand towards a nearby table. “I've got time. How about I buy that food I owe you and then you can explain to me what you're doing here.”

Claude could only hope that once he told her, that she wouldn't make _too_ much of a scene...

* * *

Leonie just stared at him, mouth slightly agape. Claude was surprised that she didn't react with more crass that he expected her to, but even without her saying so, he knew that was shocked.

“Pardon my language, Claude, but _what the fuck?!_”

Ah, there it was.

Leonie rubbed her temples in an attempt to try and stop the headache trying to form. “I know you were always into your schemes and tricks when we were younger, but goddess, this is way beyond anything I thought would _ever_ happen to you.”

He huffed, a little annoyed to have his past brought up, but at the same time, she had a point. “That in itself should tell you that I'm innocent of what they're accusing me of. Unfortunately Rhea wasn't having any of it. She refused to hear my side completely.”

She narrowed her eyes, irritation gleaming in them. “Oh, wow! I know I've heard of the Archbishop being stubborn when it came to church matters, but I didn't think she was _that_ hardcore about it. At the same time though, considering that she _is_ the leader, I'm not too surprised. But still, she should've at the very least heard you out.”

He nodded while shifting his eyes around to make sure no one was listening into their conversation. Although he hadn't seen anyone too suspicious, he couldn't help but be cautious. The last thing he wanted was this to get out and him getting caught before he had a chance to fight back.

“I am curious though.”

Claude turned his eyes back to the woman across from him, anticipation growing at her impending question. “I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that you actually found the sword mentioned in the legend. Are you sure it's the real deal?”

He smirked, thinking of the woman who was still probably sleeping in their room. “As hard as it is to believe, it _is_ the real deal and honestly, it's still hard for even myself to grasp that its real.”

She laughed lowly. “I can imagine. Although if the church is out to get you, then it's got to be. Which then leads to my next question...”

Leonie stared right back at him, a serious expression in her gaze. “What are you going to do now?”

Claude sighed. Now there was the million gold question. “I have a few ideas. Most are long shots, but at this point they're the only shots I can take.”

“And those are…?”

He brought a hand to his chin, rubbing it with his fingers as the ideas he had came back to the forefront of his mind. “Well, the first one being that I need to find a way to get in contact with my grandfather along with Lorenz and the others. Since they're my only way to contact the roundtable, short of showing up myself, which is probably suicide at this point, and convincing the ruling nobles to believe that I'm innocent, I know I need to get in contact with them as soon as possible. Especially before word gets around. And with my grandfather still being the head Duke, I need for him to know the truth since he'll be the most desperate for answers. Plus he has the most power in this situation.”

He leaned back into his chair, frustration seeping into his next words. “The other part pertains to me and Byleth-”

“Byleth?”

He blinked, confused, until he realized what she meant. “Oh, that's the name of the Blade.”

“Ah, gotcha.” She gestured for him to continue.

“Anyway, the second part is for us to go into hiding somewhere. But as far as I know there's no where in Fodlan I can safety hide without someone handing us over to the church since nearly everyone in this country is loyal to it.”

Leonie nodded. “That's true. Although you might have more of a shot in Adrestria perhaps. Last I heard, they weren't as gung ho as the other two nations about the religion. So they could give you refuge?”

“They could, but even so that's still a 'maybe'. And even with those ideas, I need to come up with another one just in case those fail. I can't take any chances and not have any fail safes to use as backups.” He frowned as his mind started to drift into his scheming mode.

Hiding out in the Alliance was definitely a 'no go' especially since out of all the nations, he would be easily recognizable there. And Faerghus was a red flag, especially since they were closest out of the three to the church. Adrestria was looking more and more promising, but just as he said before, there was a chance he could be caught there.

He sighed. Traveling back to the east was looking more and more like a solution, but that would mean he would travel through Alliance territory which then looped back into his first problem with going there.

Maybe he could write to Dimitri and Edelgard and see if they-

“How about you come with me?”

Claude jerked his head up to see Leonie looking at him, eager to hear his response. “I'm sorry, what?”

“How about you and this 'Byleth' person travel with me and my mercenary crew? I could talk with the Captain and see about getting you guys in. I could use the guise of that you two are just looking for a job to help get by. I know in the long term it's not a viable option, but at least it's something, right? And there is a possibility that the church wouldn't think to look for mercenary groups with either one of you in them. There's so many in Fodlan, I'm sure it's hard for them to keep up an accurate log.”

He had to admit, the idea had merit. But there was still one flaw though. “Are you sure your 'captain' would be willing to take us in? Cause let's be honest, he might not want to especially after knowing the trouble we're in. And I couldn't blame him either. With that big of a target on our backs, I don't think anyone would want to be around us. And I don't exactly have any money to give him either to compensate. All that is back in Leicester.”

She frowned. “That's true…. But at the very least, if that doesn't work, I could help you with contacting Lorenz and the others.”

“Oh? Why would that be needed?”

She laughed. “And you said you thought of everything?”

He pouted. “I'm not liking what you're insinuating there...”

“I only mean it in jest, Claude. But to explain, it would be better for the letters to Lorenz and the others to come from me. The reason being this: what if word gets to Leicester before your letters arrives? Although I know our friends would be willing to still listen, and perhaps even your grandfather, but it definitely would probably get destroyed by those who didn't really know you. One person of which, you and I can think of right now...”

Ah, yes, the asshole. If word did reach there, he would do just that. In that sense, Leonie's plan was much better. “So you would send off what I write and make it look just like it was just you trying to get in contact with old classmates, am I correct?”

Leonie grinned, glad to see her point come across clearly. “Exactly! That way, if that scenario played out, they would be none the wiser and plus as a bonus, since I do have family that live in the same territory as Lorenz's family, it could also just look like I'm a constituent that is just trying to write to my representative about something. And it wouldn't look suspicious at all. And we could slip in your letter to your grandfather to the one for Lorenz or the others and have them send it like they were trying to '_contact the other ruling nobles_' instead of it being seen as from you.”

Claude smiled. Apparently his tendency for scheming rubbed off on her. “Now where was this side of you back when we were in school?” He laughed. “We could've got into all kinds of trouble together as kids if we put our minds together.”

She scoffed. “Unlike you, mister 'Master Tactician', I was focused on getting better in my training and passing my classes, not trying to fly by the seat of my pants.”

He smiled as he chuckled. “Of course you were.”

He missed this. If everything hadn't gone to crap the past couple of days, he probably would've spent some of his vacation time organizing a reunion between all of them and would've hung out like old times.

But now… he wasn't so sure he'd get that chance. This would probably be the closest thing he got. After all this was over, they definitely needed to have a class reunion and a feast to celebrate it.

“There you are, Leonie. Been wondering where you went off to.”

Claude flinched a little at the gruff voice he heard off to his side and chanced a glance to see an older man with a full beard, braided ponytail, and clothed in orange garb standing next to their table. Although the man wasn't looking at him specifically as he was focused on Leonie, but Claude knew he was in his peripheral vision and that he was keeping a close watch.

“Oh, Captain Jeralt! I'm so sorry! I was actually headed out to meet you guys and grab a few last minute supplies when I ran into an old classmate of mine. We've just been catching up.”

Claude felt immensely grateful that Leonie didn't mention anything in regards to why he was here or who he was. Contrary to what a lot of people thought of her back when they were kids, she actually was a lot smarter than they gave her credit for and could easily pick up on subtle clues and read a room just as well as he could.

Although he knew that a lot of the reasons why people talked about her the way they did was because compared to a lot of his other classmates, she was one of the few commoners to attend the academy. That and she did have a tendency to talk a lot about a man she admired and dreamed about becoming said man's apprentice. But unlike the others, Claude saw it for what it was and knew that if she pushed hard for it she could achieve it.

And from the fact that he recognized the man's name she just spoke, showed that he was right.

“Oh, so _this_ is the Captain Jeralt you kept talking about back at the Academy!” Claude shot Leonie a grin. “Nice to see you finally got to be his apprentice!”

Leonie groaned, her face starting to burn red. “Oh goddess, you remember that?”

Claude's grin changed into a smirk, his teasing streak from back in the day returning full force. “How couldn't I? You kept saying to the Professor every time during training that you would one day '_become as good as Captain Jeralt_'. So, naturally after hearing it for so many times, it's kind of hard to forget it.”

To his surprise, Claude heard a chuckle come from the man. “Is that so?”

Claude laughed at the look of embarrassment on her face that grew even more. Oh, she _definitely_ wasn't going to live this down for a while.

* * *

Byleth woke up slowly, her eyes trying to adjust to the change of light in the room. Eventually, they became accustomed to it and she lifted herself off of the bed while stretching out her arms and legs.

Immediately after that she felt a small yawn come out of her mouth and due to the grogginess she felt, was very tempted to lay back down return to sleep. But, after remembering that she had been asleep for a while already turned her off to that idea and she decided that it was probably for the best that she stay awake.

With another stretch, Byleth placed her feet onto the floor and looked over to where Claude had decided to sleep last night. She became confused when she saw that he wasn't there.

That was odd. Where could he be?

She didn't hear anything coming from the next room over, so he couldn't be in there. And unless he found a way to make it to where he couldn't be seen in visible light or was hiding under the place he was sleeping (which she checked, he wasn't), he wasn't anywhere in the room.

The only logical place left would be that he was downstairs.

For a brief moment she wondered why he would be down there as they were trying to stay hidden, but as the wonderful aroma of food from the inn's kitchen hit her nose causing her stomach to growl, she realized why. Instantly she tried to fight back against the hunger pains, but eventually she knew that it was a losing battle. She hadn't had anything to eat since the moment she woke up from the time in the tomb, and after yesterday's events, she knew she had to be famished.

A small part of her wanted to go downstairs to get some of the food she kept smelling for herself, but another part of her felt that if he was perhaps down there already then she should probably wait. Not to mention they were in hiding, so it probably wouldn't be a good thing to follow him. The more they both were seen in public, the easier it would be to get caught.

Plus what if he _wasn't_ down there and she was wrong. That would mean she definitely would up the chances of them being exposed. So in the end, it would probably be best to wait.

Her stomach growled again.

Her bluebell eyes glanced over at the bag she had sat down by the bed and to the cloak she had laid over it. Well..., perhaps she could go look, but just make sure she was wearing that when she went down?

Yes, that sounded like a good idea. And besides, he might need help bringing up the food, so for her to leave the room to find him would be a good thing, right?

She debated for a few more moments before ultimately deciding to follow her stomach after it rumbled for a third time. Tossing her cloak over her shoulders and pulling the hood over her head, she made her way to the door. Hopefully she wouldn't run into anyone unless it was Claude.

But Byleth had a feeling though knowing her luck from the past 24 hours that the chances of that were slim.

* * *

After Byleth reached the foot of the steps, she turned to look about in the open room for a head of brown hair. There were a few people sitting at various tables that shared that hair color, but none of them were the man she was looking for. Eventually she realized that his hair was probably not what she needed to search for as he probably had she same idea as her and was wearing a cloak to hide it.

Looking about again, except this time for a similar hood instead of hair, she eventually spotted one sitting at a table where it was seated across from a woman bearing orange hair and wearing clothes similar to it's shade. Next to the two of them stood an older man and she could see that altogether they were carrying on a conversation.

At first she panicked and wondered if she had assumed right in Claude being the hooded person as she didn't want to make a mistake and get them caught, but when she heard the woman say his name rather exasperatingly, Byleth felt convinced that she was correct.

However, now she was in a dilemma. How could she talk to him without making the other two people put the pieces together?

Well, considering that at least one of them was familiar with her Wielder and that the older man had heard his name being said, Byleth felt as if she shouldn't be too concerned about her saying his name aloud. And from what her and Claude talked about last night as well as on their trip here, she looked just like a human which was the biggest reason why he didn't realize who she was when they first met, so that helped to reassure her that no one know she was a Blade except for Claude himself.

So to those two, she would look like an ordinary person traveling with him. And while they seemed to recognize him, as far as they both knew, she had been in that tomb for ages and this was the first time she'd emerged. So for her to be recognized outside of that was near impossible. Still, her nerves were trying to convince her otherwise.

Regardless, she pressed forward. “Claude?”

Immediately she felt her anxiety spike when all three of them turned to look at her. Claude's expression was easy to read as she was familiar with him and could tell that he was wondering why she was here. The other two were, well, theirs was different and honestly, were a little unnerving.

The woman had a look of curiosity on hers and Byleth had a feeling that he had told her something about why they were here. It made sense considering how close he was acting towards her before she called him out.

The older man, looked, quite frankly, like he'd seen a ghost. His face had immediately gone pale at seeing her and though Byleth was interested to know why, she was also more focused on finding some food to placate the hunger she was feeling. And the smell of it sitting on the table wasn't helping her any.

“Ah, what are you doing down here? Did you just wake up?” Claude was addressing her and upon her reaching the table, he apologized. “Sorry, I meant to be up there earlier with breakfast. Just ran into an old friend here and we got carried away with our talking.”

She nodded. Her eyes turned to the plates of food in question. “Is one of these supposed to be mine?”

Claude nodded and waved his hand over the food as he talked. “Yeah, whichever one you want. Although it is kinda cold now so, I don't know if it'll still taste good.”

“That's fine. Food's food.” She grabbed the nearest one and pulled it towards her. She slid herself into the chair next to Claude and started eating in order to calm her stomach. Maybe now it would shut up and leave her alone.

As she did, she could hear Claude start introducing her to the other two people. She was barely focusing in on the words he was saying, but eventually she heard something that made her fork stop in its path to her mouth. “...Byleth?”

That wasn't Claude's voice.

She turned her head in the direction of the others to see the same older man staring at her, his eyes shining with looked to be unshed tears. “...Is that really you?”

Her eyebrows furrowed together. What was he talking about? She didn't recognize him from anywhere. “I'm sorry, but do I know you?”

Was she supposed to know him?

Byleth chanced a glance at Claude and the woman to see the same dumbfounded looks on both of them. The woman's expression and subsequent words cemented in her mind that Claude did tell her what was going on and it helped explain why she was just as confused as the rest of them. “Captain, do you know her?”

They all looked at him as a hurt look came over his face, before he clenched his jaw and his eyes narrowed with determination. “Yes, I do. She's my daughter.”

All of their eyes widened. Wait a minute, what?!

“Pardon? Are you sure about that?” She heard Claude speak and could tell that he was trying to both hide the shock in his voice and keep the hard edge out. Unlike the other two, they were both there in the tomb when she was awoken as a Blade and she even had Sothis, the girl she could only see, tell her that she was a Blade.

So why was this man insisting that she was a human? And his daughter no less?

They all watched as he rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. After unfolding it, he held out towards them to show what was on the page and the image was one that made their questions grow tenfold.

There she was, drawn onto a piece of paper with the man in question standing next to her. The two held happy looks on their faces and the painting clearly showed that the two were familiar with each other. As familiar as a father and daughter would be. “You insisted on having this drawn by an artist we ran into shortly before you disappeared five years ago. I've hung onto it since, as this was the only thing I had left of you after that.”

Byleth's appetite vanished. She was going to be sick.

Whatever semblance of who she was had been thrown out the window and now she was back to square one.

Just _who_ was she?

Blade? Human? Daughter? Whom-?

Byleth tried to get a hold of the random thoughts running through her head, but they kept slipping through her fingers and didn't allow her to form anything coherent. She felt a panic rising up within her and could feel her chest tightening and her breath coming out in short pants.

So lost in thought was she that she didn't hear Claude and the man talking next to her, nor hear the man keep insisting it was her and Claude saying how it wasn't possible. Her panicking was preventing her from being able to focus.

She tried to keep breathing, but even that was failing her.

Suddenly she felt a warm hand gently grab her arm causing her to flinch. Looking to her right, Byleth saw the woman standing next her, concern etched over her features. “Are you okay?”

Although Byleth couldn't get her mouth to speak for her, the woman managed to figure out just from looking at her that she wasn't okay. Far from it.

A glare formed on her face, but it wasn't directed towards Byleth. The woman jerked her head over towards the other members of their party and spoke firmly, with no room for further discussion. “Maybe we need to take this conversation somewhere else.”

Byleth had figured Claude and the other man picked up on her tone cause she barely remembered much else except for the woman continuing to gently, but firmly grasp her arm and helped to lead her to a room that was away from everyone else except for them two.

Although she still was panicking, at least now she could breath a little.

* * *

Claude looked over at the man sitting across from him at the table in the room he and Byleth had shared the night previous. Although he was concerned about Byleth and how he knew she had to be having a mental breakdown at this moment, he knew he could trust Leonie to calm her down and help her through it.

But for him, he had to talk to man before him and get some answers. Although he had evidence showing that Byleth looked just like his missing daughter and possibly was, Claude still needed to know the story behind this. Because if it was true, then it would help explain her appearance and the reason why she didn't know she was a Blade. But if it wasn't, then Claude wasn't sure where to proceed next. “You said she disappeared five years ago?”

Although Jeralt looked a bit annoyed by his question, he did push past it to give him an answer. “Yes, she did. We were routing out bandits for a job we were hired to do when she got cut off from the rest of us. While we knew she could handle her own, we always try to keep together to prevent something like that from happening. When we finally caught up with her, all we found was her sword. She was no where to be found.”

Claude immediately felt pity for the man as the despair he had on his face upon hearing that Byleth didn't recognize him returned. Although he didn't know the man personally like Leonie did, he knew just based upon his expression that her disappearance had hurt him greatly. “We searched for her everywhere we knew to look, but we couldn't find anything to tell us where she went.”

He sighed. “Although everyone else assumed that she was gone, I still kept hoping. After losing her mother when Byleth was born, I swore to protect her and not let anything happen to her, and then that took place...”

Claude frowned. Although he was lucky and never had experienced any loss of a family member, he knew from hearing his classmates talk about losing theirs that it was one of the worse feelings in the world and that no matter what you did, the pain would never truly go away. Sure, it would eventually become bearable to live with, but ultimately their loss stuck with you for the rest of your life.

“So how did you find her?”

He pulled himself out of his inner musings and focused back onto Jeralt. The sadness had been replaced with determination and Claude had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to dodge questions from him like he could with others. He still didn't want too many people to know about his predicament as he didn't want word to get out. Telling Leonie, Lorenz, his grandfather and the other former classmates of his was one thing, but anyone else was a potential liability.

...Still, he knew Leonie trusted Jeralt and if Byleth truly was his daughter, then perhaps, he'd be willing to listen and keep their secret. “I found her in the Holy Tomb underneath Garreg Mach.”

Jeralt's eyes narrowed as he gripped together one of hands into a fist. “You gotta be kidding me!” He hissed as Claude assumed he was coming to terms with what he had revealed. “Why am I not surprised? If you found her there, then she has to the one behind this.”

Okay, now _that_ piqued Claude's curiosity. “Who is 'she'?” He was silent for a few moments before he finally made the connection. “You mean Rhea, don't you?”

Jeralt shifted his glare onto him. Claude could feel the temperature in the room drop a few degrees. “What's your relation to her? Are you a member of the church?”

Claude had a feeling that this man sitting before him had a history with her, if his reaction was anything to go by. And oddly enough, that seemed to make him feel more comfortable with telling him what happened. “No.” He laughed a bit. “Far from it, actually.”

Jeralt quirked an eyebrow at his nonchalant response. “You don't believe in the church?”

Claude waved a hand. “Let's just say that my beliefs steer more towards an appreciation for nature and not a physical god, or in this case, goddess. And as far as my relation to Rhea goes, well, as far as I'm concerned, she wants me dead and,” He hesitated for a moment because he had a feeling that his next words weren't going to go over well. “I'm sure she wants Byleth back too, since she's the whole reason why Rhea wants me dead in the first place.”

Jeralt immediately stood up and walked to the window, looking down outside at the people milling about. Although Claude couldn't read minds, he could read body language and from the rigidness of his stance, he knew that he was trying very hard to keep his anger in check. He didn't want to push him any more than he had to, but Claude knew he needed answers, especially if this would help him piece together this puzzle that Byleth's appearance in his life had started. He already knew something was up with her and now he had a chance to figure out why.

He owed her that.

“Sir?”

Jeralt continued to stare outside for a few more moments before finally speaking, his voice tinged with anger at what he could only assume to be the woman behind both of their problems. “Not sure if you've heard of me, especially since you say you aren't a member of the church, but, about 26 years ago I used to be the Captain of the Knights of Seiros. And naturally, when you're in that position, you get rather close to the Archbishop since you have to be in contact with her on a near constant basis.”

He returned to his seat, his eyes stormy with memories of those days. It made Claude vaguely curious about the man's age and to a lesser extent Rhea's, since when he saw her she looked rather young, and if it had been over 25 years since Jeralt was last at the monastery, she should've shown some aging at least, but there wasn't any that he could tell.

Which granted he knew it was a rather rude subject to ask about, but it still raised some questions and strangely enough he had a feeling that it was related somehow to Byleth's disappearance. “During my tenure there, I met a woman, a nun, and after some time of getting to know each other, we got married. Shortly afterward she became pregnant with our daughter, Byleth.”

“We were both over the moon about the news and were eagerly looking forward to the day she would enter into our lives.” The despair that came over his face was enough to tell Claude where this conversation was heading.

“Pardon my asking, but I assume by the past tense you use that something happened.” After the words slipped past his mouth, he instantly regretted them. Although he did have enough training to keep certain words in check, when it came to his curiosity however, sometimes things tended to slip out before he could stop them.

The sigh alone was enough to tell him that he was, sadly, right. “She didn't make it through the delivery. Although Rhea says she died shortly after Byleth was born, for some reason I don't think that's the whole story. And now that I hear you found Byleth near the monastery, it makes me wonder even more.”

Claude stayed silent, opting to let the man work through his thoughts.

“The feeling of distrust I had towards her grew even more to the point where I knew I had to get Byleth out of there. Rhea kept taking great interest in her and while, yes, at first I chalked it up to it just being that Byleth was the daughter to her favorite nun and best friend, as the months went on, the feeling of something being wrong just kept growing.”

He sighed again. “Eventually I came up with the idea of faking her death and caused a fire to break out in the monastery to use as the reason how she died. After that happened, I resigned from my post as captain and left under the guise of being too distraught from losing both my wife and daughter to tragic circumstances so close to one another.” He huffed. “Rhea was upset too at the 'loss' of my daughter, but she let me go since she understood why I felt that way and knew I needed to time let myself grieve without such a big responsibility holding me down.”

“After that, I took my daughter from someone I trusted to watch after her during the fire and fled with her. I then formed a troupe of mercenaries and began traveling around by taking odd jobs here and there.” Although the subject he knew was a sad one, Claude could tell by the smile on his face that he was reliving some happy memories. “I trained her in the way of the sword and she grew up with my mercenary crew as one big happy family. Although I do wish I could've given her more and let her interact with people more her age, I admit that the biggest reason why I didn't let that happen was because I was so afraid Rhea would've found out what I'd done and would, why, for reasons I don't fully know, take her away from me.”

He laughed wanly. “I guess those fears weren't so unfounded after all...”

“Since her disappearance I was hoping to find her one day. Hell, I even spent some of the gold I earned during my work to hire people to go out and search for her, but they never found anything.” He dropped his head into his hands, anguish lacing his next words. “And now I finally find her after all this time, and she doesn't even remember me.”

Claude frowned. His pity grew for his situation and he found himself even more annoyed at Rhea if what Jeralt thought happened was true. Sure, it was a bad thing to judge someone at first glance without getting their story of the events that happened, but to rip a family apart, that was something else entirely.

But he knew he was still missing a bigger piece to the puzzle. And that piece was something he had yet to find, but hopefully with Jeralt here, he could. “Do you know why I found her down there?”

Jeralt lifted his head, some confusion showing in his eyes. “I assume Rhea had her down there to help guard it. Supposedly that place holds something precious within it from I remember her telling me before.”

Claude held back his laugh. This was definitely not the time nor place for that. “Well, Rhea did have her down there, but not in the way you think.”

Jeralt quirked a brow. “How-?”

Before he could finish his question, Claude spoke. “I found her on a stone throne in the tomb where she was sleeping and I woke up her while attempting to protect her from getting attacked by bandits. She acted just as confused as she did now and was even more confused when somehow with her help I was able to summon the Sword of the Creator.”

He looked over to the corner of the room, where the blade sat.

The look on Jeralt's face was priceless when his eyes caught sight of the legendary weapon and when his words finally registered with him. “The Sword of the Creator? And what do you mean by saying she helped you 'summon it'?”

And now the words Claude was dreading to say. “What I mean by that is that she was able to help me summon it because apparently, Byleth is its Blade.”

* * *

The stench of the dead wyvern was nearly overwhelming to the point where Catherine was about to lose her stomach.

Sure, she had smelled dead bodies before, but this was something else entirely. “I'm guessing this is the wyvern the two escaped on?”

“Looks like it.” Shamir stood a good bit away from the decaying beast. The smell seemed to be getting to her too apparently. Her Blade glanced around a bit until she saw a bit of disturbed grass and sticks nearby and although she wasn't as well versed in it like Shamir was, she knew enough to know that it wasn't too long ago that they passed by. “We're getting close. Remire is just at the bottom of this hill. That's more than likely where they decided to stay at.”

Catherine stretched her arms out above her head. She was definitely eager to get a move on. The sooner this job was done, the sooner she could get back to Lady Rhea. “I hope so. Not only cause I want this job done so that we can head back, but I'm curious to figure out exactly what it was that the Riegan kid stole from the Tomb. I understand Lady Rhea probably didn't want to give out too much information, but still, it would be nice to have _something_ to go on.”

Shamir huffed. “If it's as important as she claimed it was, then it has to be something powerful. And with anything powerful, you have to make sure it's in the right hands.”

“That's true. I don't think he'd do anything dastardly with it, but still, an order is an order.” She sighed, a frown forming on her face as memories of a past event came to mind. “Hopefully though, he'll be willing to just come back with us. I'd hate to have to kill him.”

Shamir gripped her shoulder in a comforting gesture. “Unfortunately, we may not have a choice. Remember, Rhea wants him dead regardless of his compliance. I don't think I'd blame him for wanting to fight back. At least he has a chance that way.”

Catherine nodded, the dark pit in her stomach still refusing to leave. Slowly she breathed out and began walking down the path leading to Remire while forcing her mind to change the subject. “Let's just get it over with. The sooner, the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, it looks like it ain't gonna stop coming for Byleth anytime soon. Poor girl... :<
> 
> Sorry, this chapter took a while to get out. Had a bunch of other things going on that needed to be taken care of first, plus with the current environment going on in the world right now, that didn't help none either.
> 
> Not sure when I'll get the next chapter out since I've got other stuff I want to work on first, but hopefully this will placate you guys until then, although with that ending, I know it probably won't. >_>
> 
> ...my bad.
> 
> ~Until later!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, to be honest, I'm a bit nervous about posting this idea. It's a little... different in terms of a story idea, but it wouldn't leave me alone especially when I connected the idea of the Crest Stones with the Core Crystals of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (I'm a fan of that game too, can you tell? lol ).
> 
> I've still got bits of the story and outline I'm trying to work on, but in the end it's going to be something that I hope will be good story even if it's a bit unorthodox.
> 
> Also, if you're wondering, I do have the next chapter of Like It Was Fate in the works, but I put it on hold until I finished this bad boy up first. Now that this is done, it's next on my list of things to write. :)
> 
> SMALL EDIT: I changed the wyvern's color to be brown instead of white. Small change, but it's for story purposes.
> 
> Please let me know what you think and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
> 
> ~Thanks!


End file.
